History Hound Travels

Ok, ya’ll. If indeed there is anybody out there. The silence is deafening. So: am I moving too fast, moving too slow, boring you to tears, not covering what you are interested in? Come help me out, tell me what you want to see.

Although as a homeschooler, I do appreciate getting through the lessons without having to tell anyone to pay attention, it’s still lonely in here by myself.

I’m up to page 90 in our book. Are you reading along with me? After Jacob married Laban’s daughters for 14 years of labor, he worked still for Laban. He finally broke with Laban and returned home. He met his brother Esau peacefully, and the two parted ways amicably. Jacob did see his father Isaac again, though. Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born, and he lived to be 180 years old, quite an accomplishment for a man who thought he was ready to die at least 20 years earlier. Doing the math leads us to know that Isaac lived for 105 years after his father Abraham died, so his death would have been about 2,286 years after creation, a bit over 30 lifetimes.

Those who are familiar with the Bible will know that Jacob came to be called Israel, and that his son Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. This is how the Jewish nation came to be in Egypt. We’ll discuss this more on Wednesday.

Technorati Tags: Laban, Esau, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph

I said we would get to Jacob and Laban today, so I’ll discuss it briefly. It will be a short discussion, as I have still been tied up with the other stuff I had going on in real life. I’m pleased to report that’s about done, and I’ll be back to a normal schedule next week.

So, Jacob bargained with Laban to marry Laban’s daughter Rachel. The bride price was seven years labor, with Jacob cheerfully fulfilled. Laban brought his oldest daughter, Leah, to Jacob instead. Jacob did not discover this until the morning. He got to marry Rachel as well, but it did cost him another seven years of working for Laban.

Technorati Tags: Jacob, Laban, Rachel, Leah

I did not get as much read as I had planned. I’ve been busy as I posted. We don’t hear very much more about Isaac at all, but his wife Rebekah is an interesting study. She was apparently a very beautiful woman, but she was also deceptive. We’ll see the fruit of that in her son, Jacob.

Rebekah helped her favorite, Jacob, deceive Isaac and gain the blessing due the first-born son, which his brother Esau should have had. As a result of this, Esau vowed to kill Jacob and so he was sent away. Rebekah never saw him again. Esau had already traded his birthright to Jacob for food, so again we see a case of the younger son taking the place of the older. We’ll see that at least once more in Joseph’s sons. This is important in a historical context because it was typically the oldest son who led a family.

It’s worth noting that the deceiving Jacob was in turn deceived by Laban, his father in law. He bargained for one wife and was given another instead.

We’ll get to that on Friday

Technorati Tags: Rebekah, Jacob, Isaac, Esau, Laban

Hi there! I’ll be busy for a couple of days getting some personal things attended to, and I’ll be back on Wednesday with The Book of God.