A Journey Through the Bible, Part Eighteen

Old Testament

Genesis 35 and 36

Genesis 35:2—“And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves...’” After the fiasco at Shechem (chapter 34), God commanded Jacob to go to Bethel and build an altar. Jacob is firmly committed to the one, true God now, and he isn’t going to tolerate any idolatry in his household. I’m sure that means Rachel, too, who, as the reader will recall, swiped her father’s idols when they all fled from him (chapter 31). This chapter ends on two sad notes—the death of Rachel as she was giving birth to Jacob’s last son, Benjamin, (v. 18), and the death of Isaac in verse 27.

Genesis 36:1—“Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom.” This chapter is given wholly to the genealogy of Esau, so if you love reading all those strange Bible names, this would be a good chapter for you to study. The key point here is found in verse 1, and mentioned a couple of other times in the chapter—the descendents of Esau became the Edomites, who dwelt south of Israel and who will be in frequent, usually negative, contact with the Jews for several centuries afterwards.

New Testament

Matthew 20

Matthew 20:1-4—“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went.” We have a chapter break between chapters 19 and 20 that really is not good. This parable is actually a continuation of the account of the rich young ruler in chapter 19. I won’t recount all the details, but you might recall that the young man loved his money more than he loved the Lord, and went away sorrowfully. Jesus then responded about how hard it was for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, a thought which amazed the apostles who were operating under the false Jewish conception that the rich must be the blessed of God or they wouldn’t be rich. It’s the poor who must be wicked, so if the wealthy can’t get to heaven, who can? More on that in another context. In 19:27, Peter said, “’See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?’" Jesus responds in two ways. First, by confirming that those who indeed leave all will be well-blessed in this life and the hereafter. But His second answer produces the parable of “laborers in the vineyard” in chapter 20.

Until I discovered that chapter 20 was actually a continuation of chapter 19, I had always been bothered by Peter’s question. “Lord, look what we’ve done. What are we going to get for it?” It sounded—and sounds—to me like Peter is laboring just for what he can get out of it, for his own personal benefit. And thus Jesus, while verifying that those who leave all will be truly blessed, cannot leave Peter’s attitude untouched. So chapter 19 ends with Christ saying, ”But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Notice the “but”; that means something else is coming. And the parable in chapter 20 is that something else.

The first four verses of chapter 20, reproduced at the beginning of this section, give the key thought. The first men hired bargained with the landowner—just like Peter. “Ok, we’ll work for you, but what are we going to get for it?” But notice what the landowner told the second group employed: “You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.” In other words, these men simply trusted in the goodness and beneficence of the master. They didn’t “bargain” with him; they believed that, if they worked in his vineyard, he would provide “whatever is right.” Of course, the landowner in the parable represents God, and the laborers represent us. And, truly, the first men hired, the ones who bargained, got their denarius, as agreed. But the ones who were hired later got the same pay, the same reward, because that’s what the Master will give anyone who labors faithfully in his kingdom

So, yes, faithful service to Him will indeed be rewarded. But if we labor only for the rewards, chances are we aren’t going to do much more than whatever it takes to get paid. Jesus is teaching us to strive to put our service on a higher plane and greater motive—trusting in the goodness of God. He will not let us down.