ch 35 - Jacob owned a parcel of ground at Shechem - Abraham had bought it. So the gold was buried on his own land.

ch 34 - The behaviour of Simeon and Levi is as deceitful as their father had been often in his life - so the way that we behave is learnt by our children.

35:21 The 'tower of Edar' at Bethlehem is the 'tower of the flock' of Micah 4:8

34:19 Notice that God’s assessment of Hamor is that he was ‘more honourable’ than the rest of the men of Shechem. Thus we learn that one who does not share an understanding of God’s promises can still have a degree of ‘honour’.

35:11 In describing Himself as ‘God Almighty’ Jacob is being reminded of the promises (Gen 17:1, 28:3)

35:1-7 - "Bethel" means "house of God". In v.2 we have them getting rid of their idols and in v.4 burying their "sin" under a tree somewhat akin to Christ's sacrifice on the cross burying our sins. V.6 - "Luz" probably means "almond tree" which was the first tree to blossom in the Spring and thus combined with the altar where God appeared perhaps a symbol of sacrifice and resurrection.

34:9 Continuing on the last comment on this verse even though Shechem was ‘more honourable’ he was in darkness and as such was an unsuitable husband for Dinah. We need to understand that good standing or ‘honour’ in a man or woman of the world is not sufficient reason to compromise the principles of the truth.

35:4 One wonders what Jacob thought when Rachel gave him the god she has stolen from her father’s house – Gen 31:19

Gen 35:21 Jacob is not called Israel until this point.  Now that the last vestige of Syria is dead and buried, with Rebekah's nurse, and now Rachel behind him, he can now go forward fully dependent on God.

Jacob and his family had long since left Padanaram.  It appears, however, that Rachel had kept possession of the teraphim she stole from her father (35:2).  But now the time was right for Jacob to make a complete commitment to Yahweh.  And so, he swept house.  His vow to worship only Yahweh would later be a command via the mouth of Moses (Exo 20:3,4).  Jacob's directive to clean and change garments (Gen 35:2) was a pledge to be pure in front of Yahweh.  This too would be reflected in the Law of Moses (see Lev.15).    

34:13 Jacob was a ‘deceiver’ – using guile at times in his life. His sons learnt this skill from him. When they spoke to Shechem and his father they spoke ‘with guile’ – RV. We do well to remember that our children learn by watching us.

v8  It is strange that we have Rebekah's nurse mentioned here, within the context of Jacob's household's travels. The only other time we read of her (if it is the same nurse), is in Gen 24:59  when she travels with Rebekah from her childhhod home to join her new husband. So we would presume that she continued to live in Isaac's household, not Jacob's. Perhaps she had previously died & been buried in that spot, & that it was a site that Jacob would have stopped at on his way, perhaps having fond memories of Deborah, & not having seen her since he had left to live with Laban. Jacob, after entering the land, stops at Shechem, & then travels south to Bethel, through the Bethlehem area, & ends up at his father Isaac's Camp at Hebron.

35:10  This is the second time that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. See Gen 32:28 So the name conferred by the angel after the struggle is confirmed by God Himself.

34:1 Doubtless Dinah’s motives were ‘pure’. After all she had a lot of brothers and little female company. However the ‘daughters of the land’ had their own interests – the boys of the land. Dinah was drawn into their interests with catastrophic consequences, even though Shechem was ‘honourable – Gen 34:18-19

35:19 We noticed in 30:24 how Rachel, as soon as Joseph was born, wanted another son – the name she gave Joseph highlighted this desire. However she never enjoyed this second son. Her desires of chapter 30 were of no avail. How often do we have desires which highlight dissatisfaction with what we have?

This psalm calls for patience - the fourth component of the fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:22).  Let's not concern ourselves with the ungodly or their ways, even though they might prosper in this life (Psa 73:12).  We set our sights on the Kingdom whence is our prize (Matt 6:21, Phil 3:14).

V.3 - Here we have the concept of faith and works required James 2:14 .

Psa 37:25 - David never saw the righteous foresaken or their children begging bread. I don't think this means the righteous will never starve but perhaps that it is a rare occurance as God is merciful and David had never seen it. Some perhaps feel it relates to spiritual food. The word used for "begging" [Heb. "baqash" (1245) has various meanings including "begging"]. When David and his men were hungry they ate the "shewbread" and the words used in 1Sam 21:3,6 were "give" and "gave" [both words are the Heb. "nathan" (5414) which has various meanings but not including "beg" or "begging" according to Strongs and Brown-Driver-Briggs].

Psa 37:37 - we can encourage each other by being good examples with a future reward being the peace of Jerusalem when Christ returns to rule.

Psa 37:40 - God wants us to turn to Him and trust Him for deliverance 1Cor 10:13 . A lady who had seen her share of difficulties once told me "we won't be tested beyond what we can bear but we might be tested beyond what we think we can bear."

37:8    Humanly speaking the strong inherit - or more correctly take by force - what they want. The ‘meek’ on the other hand leave things in God’s hands knowing that He is mightier than all the wicked put together!

v11  "the meek will inherit the land" is quoted by Jesus in Matt 5:5  but in this psalm we get further definitions of what it means to be "meek" & who the meek "who will inherit the land" are. v9 says that it is "those who hope in the LORD";  v22 says "those the LORD blesses";  v27  says it is those who "turn from evil & do good";   those who are "just" & "faithful" v 28 ;   v29 says they are "the righteous", & v31 says the righteous man has "the law of his God in his heart; his feet do not slip"; &  v34 says it is those who "wait for the LORD & keep his way". So this psalm expands on Jesus' words, & is an exhortation & an encouragement to those who are "meek".

37:10-11It is all too easy to think that the ‘wicked’ prosper. However once one thinks sensibly about that it becomes clear that they do not. Their prosperity perishes with their death. This contrasts with the reward of the righteous. Eternal inheritance on the earth.

Those who trust God don't just swim through life never falling. But the promise is when they do they will not fall headlong because God is holding their hand (v24). It's a parent and child picture. And this is how Jesus led his life (Isa 42:6)

22:33 The astonishment of those who heard Jesus demonstrates that the leaders never explained Scripture in this careful way.

22:5 An invitation to the marriage of the King’s son is an important event. In ‘making light of it’ the Jewish leaders were showing their disdain for things which challenged their perception of how they should worship God.

22:1    That Jesus ‘answered’ tells us that the parable which follows is a response to the events at the end of chapter 21

V.16 The Herodians were members of the Jewish aristocracy who followed the principles of Herod Antipas.  This group supported the Roman government.  Their question Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? (v.17) was designed to trap Jesus into revealing Himself as seditious against Rome.  He did not fall for their ruse but showed that by obeying the laws of the land one was serving Yahweh (see Titus 3:1).

V.41-45 - 'The Lord [i.e. God] said to my Lord [i.e. Christ] "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet"'. This quotes Psalm 110:1 where there are two different Hebrew names used for Lord that help clarify this passage. Christ was descended from David Luke 3:23-37 - Heli was the father of Mary. 

When the king comes in He will inspect His guests (judgement).  Only those who are wearing the correct garment, which has been kept clean (Rev 3:4), will be allowed to stay.  All others will be ejected.  Out of the many who have received a wedding invitation, some will fail to put on the wedding garment; others will put it on but fail to keep it clean.  After inspection, only a comparative few will be allowed to stay (Matt 22:14).  Let's make sure of where we stand (2Pet 1:10).

22:40-41The events of Mark 12:28-34 fit in between these verses. It seems that after the lawyer had asked his question the scribe, in a different frame of mind, asked the same question.