The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 18: The Heart of Israel (2024)

Episode Date: January 18, 2024

Fr. Mike talks about how God accomplishes his will through us, in spite of our brokenness, and how he is always faithful to his promises. Today's readings are Genesis 35-36, Job 25-26, and Proverbs 3:19-24. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, I'm Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day 18 and let's get started. Let's keep on going through Genesis, Job, and Proverbs. Today we'll be reading from Genesis chapter 35 and 36, Job chapter 25 and 26, and Proverbs chapter 3 verses 19 through 24.

As always, I am reading from the revised standard version, Catholic edition, and I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to get your own Bible in a Year reading plan, just go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe in your podcast app and also sign up for updates. Be part of our email list by texting the two words, but connected, Catholic Bible, Catholic Bible, that one word, two words combined, no spaces in between to number 33777. And you'll get updates and you'll get whatever kind of information you might need to follow along. Today, we are going, as I said, Genesis chapter 35 and 36.

We're continuing on with the story of Jacob, now Israel, and his family. And gosh, yeah, how the family's going to unfold. They're going to continue to grow. He's got a number of sons, and they are getting older, and things are getting complicated. Things are always complicated. Man, yesterday, what did his sons do? His sons took vengeance upon the family of Shechem, Hamor, that whole entire family,

after they had agreed to make a covenant with them, because Shechem had raped their sister. And so the family continues to grow. This is Genesis chapter 35 and 36. God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau. So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.

Then let us arise and go up to Bethel that I may make there an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone. So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem. And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were round about them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came to Luz, that is Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. And there they built an altar, and called the that is Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

And there they built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because their God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel, so that the name of it was called Alon Bakuth. God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan Aram and blessed him. And God said to him, your name is Jacob. No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. So his name was called Israel. And God said to him, I am God almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you,

and I will give the land to your descendants after you. Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him, and Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel. Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, fear not, for now you will have another son. And as her soul was departing, for she died, she called out his name, Ben-Oni,

but his father called his name Benjamin. So Rachel died and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Edir. While Israel dwelt in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve, The sons of Leah, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid, Dan, and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid, Gad, and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, in Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years, and Isaac breathed his last, and he died, and was gathered to his people old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. These are the descendants of Esau, that is, Edom. Esau took his wives from the Canaanites, Adah, the son of Elan the Hittite, Aholamabah, the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibion the Hivite, and Besamath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaoth. And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz,

Bathemath bore Reol, and Hulamabah bore Jeush, Jelam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his beasts, and all his property, which he had acquired in the land of Canaan. And he went into a land away from his brother Jacob, for their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their cattle. So Esau dwelt in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom. These are the descendants of Esau, the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. These are the names of Esau's sons. Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau. Reul, son of Basamath, the wife of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz were Timan, Omar, Zipho, Gatham,

and Canaz. Timnah was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son. She bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Reul, Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizah. These are the sons of Basamat, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Ohalemabah, the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibion, Esau's wife. She bore to Esau Jehush, Jelam, and Korah. These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kanaz, Korah, Getam, and Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They are the sons of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They are the sons of Veda.

These are the sons of Reul, Esau's son. The chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shema, and Mizah. These are the chiefs of Reul in the land of Edom. They are the sons of Besamath, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Holamabah, Esau's wife, the chiefs Jayush, Jalam, and Karah. These are the chiefs born of Holimabah, the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Esau, that is Edom, and these are their chiefs. These are the sons of Seir, the Horite, the inhabitants of the land Lotan, Shabal, Zibion, Anah, Dishan, Ezer, and Dishan.

These are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. The sons of Lotan were Horai and Heman, and Lotan's sister was Timnah. These are the sons of Shabal, Alvan, Manahath, Ibal, Shifo, and Onam. These are the sons of Zibion, Aaya, and Ana. He is the Ana who fell in the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of Zibion his father. These are the children of Ana, Dishan, and Holibama, the daughter of Ana. Dishan and Holibama, the daughter of Anah. These are the sons of Dishan, Hamdan, Ashban, Ithran, and Sharon. These are the sons of Ezer, Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. These are the sons of Dishan, Uz, and Aran. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the chiefs Lotan, Shabal, Zibion, Anah, Dishan, Ezer, and Dishan. These are their chiefs of the Horites, according to their clans in the land of Seir.

These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. the son of Beor, reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Din-Habah. Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his stead. Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead. Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his stead, the name of his city being Avith. Hadad died, and Samlah of Masraqah reigned in his stead. Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his stead. Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan, the son of Akbor, reigned in his

stead. Baal-Hanan, the son of Akbor, died, and Hadar reigned in his stead, the name of his city being Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabal, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mehzababah. These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their dwelling places. By their names, the chiefs Timnah, Alvah, Jepheth, Oholimabah, Elah, Penan, Kenaz, Timan, Nibzar, Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, that is Esau, the father of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. in the land of their possession. Job chapter 25 and 26.

Bildad speaks, asking, how can man be righteous? Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, dominion and fear are with God. He makes peace in his high heaven. Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? How then can man be righteous before God? How can he who was born of woman be clean? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not clean in his sight.

How much less man, who is a maggot, the son of man, who is a worm? Then Job answered, How have you helped him who has no power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength? Then Job answered, below tremble, the waters and their inhabitants. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth upon nothing. He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not torn under them. He covers the face of the moon and spreads over it his cloud. He has described a circle upon the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power he stilled the sea. By his understanding he struck Rahab.

By his wind the heavens were made fair. His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. And how small a whisper do we hear of him? But the thunder of his power, who can understand? Proverbs chapter 3 verses 19 through 24. The Lord by wisdom founded the earth. By understanding he established the heavens. Verse 2. and your foot will not stumble. If you sit down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We give you thanks for your word,

and we ask that you please send us your Holy Spirit so that your word remains powerful and effective in our lives, that your word penetrates not just our minds and our hearts, but penetrates our very lives and shapes the way in which we respond that your word penetrates not just our minds and our hearts, but penetrates our very lives and shapes the way in which we respond to your word. You have revealed your heart to us. Help us now in this moment, reveal our hearts to you. You have changed us. We ask you to please change us again. Make us new this day and every day because we want to belong to you more than anything in this world or in the next. We want to be yours and we want to do your

will. In Jesus' name we ask you, please help us to be that kind of people. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So the heart of Jacob, the heart of Israel, I mean, as he buries his wife Rachel, we recognize that while Israel's slash Jacob's life had been marked by deception, had been marked by manipulation and cunning, and also been marked by brokenness, right? We have these three, sorry, these four women from whom came Jacob's 12 sons.

We still have this birth of a new thing that God is doing. This new thing that God is continuing to do, where God once again promises to Israel, formerly Jacob, what he had promised to his father and his grandfather, that he would, through him, make of him a great generation. A great kingdom. And that's one of the things that we get to see throughout the book of Genesis and the book of Exodus coming up. And Judges and all the books in the Old Testament. Is how often, it's a theme that I keep pointing back to. But how often God allows, no, how often God accomplishes his will in spite of our brokenness.

Sometimes I think that I expect the Bible to be a hallmark story. The hallmark story is very, very clear. It's very predictable. It's very clean. And it starts out with maybe a little bit of some conflict, but then that conflict gets resolved and everything is kind of happily ever after. And we recognize that actual grace doesn't work that way. That God's working in a person's life, in a people's life, in a family's life, in a kingdom, in our lives,

never works that way. There are times when God manifests himself in his power, times when God manifests himself miraculously, but many more times when God allows us to choose. Although he wants us to choose good, he wants us to choose grace, he wants us to choose the best thing, he allows us to choose brokenness. He allows us to act in a way that he would not,

that he actually condemns. And yet he still works with it. Because as we know, everything that we surrender to God can be used. There's nothing that God can't use when we give it to him. And so here is Israel burying his beloved wife, Rachel, with his 12 sons now. These 12 sons that we're going to find out more about their story in the next couple of chapters, next couple of days leading on, because we already noticed that Joseph's born, so is Benjamin, which is going to be interesting because by this point in the story, I think Joseph and Benjamin might not know each other yet. story, I think Joseph and Benjamin might not know each other yet. Then we have the death of Isaac and the account of Esau's descendants. Why does God do this? Why does God include this whole chapter

on the descendants of Esau since that wasn't exactly the line of blessing? Remember, because Israel got the blessing, so he passes it on to his 12 sons who become the 12 tribes of Israel, the kingdom, the nation of Israel. So why do we follow Esau's sons? Well, one is because what God is revealing to us in chapter 36 is he's revealing that even though Esau did not receive the blessing, Esau is a son of his father. He is the son of Isaac and he is the grandson of Abraham. And God is going to go out into the world as well and give what? Give Abraham descendants like the stars of the sky because God is faithful to his promises. And that's what we're going to be just leaning into today.

This truth that God is faithful to his promises. I know that a lot of us are in a place right now, tonight, today, whatever time of day you're listening to God's word proclaimed, where we can question that. We can wonder if God is faithful because of the brokenness around us, the brokenness inside of us. And yet, even though there is such brokenness, we recognize that he is faithful. He is steadfast. And that's just the word I want to leave you with today. He is faithful and he is steadfast. I guess that's two words. He is faithful and he is steadfast. And we see that in this small detail of Genesis chapter 36, where God reveals the descendants of Esau, thereby fulfilling his promise that he made to Abraham, to Isaac, and now to their descendants.

My name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is the Bible in a Year podcast. I just hope that this has been a blessing for you, these first 18 days of our journey together. It's been really remarkable for me. I've really enjoyed it. Please pray for each other. Lift each other up in prayer because this is a community of people who are going through the Bible and allowing God's word to shape us, to form us, and to make us into new kinds of people who can see the world in a different way because of God's word working in our hearts,

in our minds, and in our lives. And so please pray for each other. Pray for me. I am praying for you. You are not alone. We're journeying together through God's word and his word is journeying through us as we are attentive to him. His word does not return empty, but always accomplishes the mission, the plan, the purpose for which it was sent. I can't wait to join you again tomorrow as we go through this Bible in the Air podcast.

So I'll see you tomorrow. God bless.