Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, September 24, 2012 Read – Genesis 34 & 35 We may be thinking that finally this story of the Bible is going to take a positive turn but it is not long before we are back in the middle of the mess once again. The story of the rape of Dinah – the only daughter of Jacob named in the Bible – is another of those dreadful stories. There is little grace in the story – only the harshness of revenge. This story is not one we want to use as a pattern for our lives either. Perhaps we have noticed by now that the biblical story is filled with mostly dreadful stories. Most cultures only tell of their heroes and depict their story as one filled with “good people.” That is not true of the biblical story – the dirty linen is all hung out for all to see. That is a remarkable thing about the Bible. The revenge gotten for the rape of Dinah means the Jacob will need to move again. That is the nature of existence for the first ancestors of God’s people. They are yet to receive a land of their own – a story that will come in time. One last son is born to Jacob back in the land of promise. The story of the birth of this son is marked by sadness – his mother Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, dies in childbirth. She is buried near the north end of Bethlehem – you can still go and see the place of her burial today. At this point the story contains another surprise – the death of Isaac is reported. We were led to believe that old Isaac was on his deathbed twenty years earlier when Jacob stole the blessing from Esau with the help of his mother. But here we are told that Isaac has died and that Jacob and Esau together bury their father. This story is reminiscent of the death of Abraham told earlier in the story when Isaac and Ishmael come together to bury their father. There is hope for estranged people – Jews, Christians, and Moslems.