Thy Strong Word

Hosted by Rev. Will Weedon.

With guest Rev. Tim Ostermeyer of Hope Lutheran Church in St. Ann, MO.

Genesis 35

God Blesses and Renames Jacob

35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ²So 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. ³Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

⁵And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, ⁷and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,^[a] because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.^[b]

⁹God appeared^[c] to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. ¹¹And God said to him, “I am God Almighty:^[d] be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.^[e] ¹²The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” ¹³Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. ¹⁵So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

¹⁶Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance^[f] from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” ¹⁸And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;^[g] but his father called him Benjamin.^[h] ¹⁹So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. ²¹Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²²While Israel lived 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. ²³The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

²⁷And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. ²⁸Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. ²⁹And 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.

Footnotes:

Genesis 35:7 El-bethel means God of Bethel
Genesis 35:8 Allon-bacuth means oak of weeping
Genesis 35:9 Or had appeared
Genesis 35:11 Hebrew El Shaddai
Genesis 35:11 Hebrew from your loins
Genesis 35:16 Or about two hours’ distance
Genesis 35:18 Ben-oni could mean son of my sorrow, or son of my strength
Genesis 35:18 Benjamin means son of the right hand

About the Host

Chaplain William Weedon — Rev. William Weedon

The Rev. William C. Weedon accepted the call to serve as The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) Director of Worship and International Center Chaplain and was installed on May 7, 2012. In his director of Worship role, Weedon is responsible for proposing and creating programs that carry out the purposes and aims of the LCMS in matters of worship. As chaplain at the LCMS’ International Center in St. Louis, he works with the president’s office in planning and supervising all chapel services held there, as well as offering informal chaplaincy and counseling services to employees as requested.

A 1982 graduate of Concordia College—New York, in Bronxville, N.Y., Weedon earned Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1986 and 1998, respectively. Prior to joining the staff at the LCMS International Center, Weedon served as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hamel, Ill., since 1992. From 1986 until 1992, he was pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Burlington, N.C.

On August 4, 2014, Rev. Will Weedon joined the Worldwide KFUO Radio team as the program host for Thy Strong Word, a bible study series that examines each book and chapter of the Bible in depth.

Rev. William Weedon

We have the distinct privilege of borrowing LCMS Director of Worship and International Center Chaplain Rev. William Chancellor Weedon for an hour a day to add Host of Thy Strong Word to his list of titles. Native to the central Maryland area just outside of Washington D.C., he enthusiastically enjoys his coffee, playing piano, and singing heartily, as well as spending time in the pool with his wife Cindi, three children and their spouses, and seven grandchildren. He’s one of those people that listens to Christmas music year-round, but we still let him in our studios. You may find him reading a good murder mystery or some writing by Johann Gerhard, Joseph Ratzinger, or Alexander Schmemann while eating a chocolate torte made by his wife Cindi. When he’s read all the books he can manage, he escapes outside to hike, bike, or even run in his Vivobarefoot shoes that Andy Bates, his favorite famous person, told him to buy.