Genesis 34 is the story of the depth and deception to one's heart. We can feign love for lust. We can feign forgiveness for vengeance. We are really evil, often, in the heart. Truthfully, all of us would be ashamed to show what is really at the center of our heart. We are broken. We are messed up. Christ came despite this, to fix this and to change us. Yet Genesis 34, like much of the Old Testament shows us what happens when God is not in the center of our lives. This will be casting some context onto later chapters.
Genesis 35 begins with Jacob fleeing again, but this time God really gets his attention – and he begins to clean up his family. He makes them cast aside their idols and remove their earrings (often a symbol of service or adherence to a god). They are now set apart, and the family of Israel is going to begin the process of seeking God and running, following Him and sinning, wanting Him and giving up on Him. They live in this constant pulling from here on out. They never totally give Him what He deserves, but they try, at least some do, from time to time. The chapter ends with happiness and sorrow mingled. Benjamin is born, but the birth leads to Rachel's death. Reuben sleeps with his father's concubine, but to the best of our knowledge, Jacob does nothing. Isaac passes away as well.
Genesis 36 tells us that Esau becomes a great nation (called Edom) and does not dwell near Israel. They will become another nation in the land (and will be the source of the book of Obadiah). The rest of the book just tells us who Esau's children were. We find out their names and see many of them become their own nation.
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