t be set beside the Israelites' acceptance of God's choice and quest for divine providence. Boadt (RG50) says that the "central thread" of the Pentateuch "tells of that God who acts in human history." In any case, Israel makes a project of engaging in dialogue with God. Abraham's bargaining regarding Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:22-32) is one example.
God also engages and benefits Jacob repeatedly. The dream of the stairway causes Jacob to promise to take God as his only god (Gen. 28:17-18). In that dream, God promises not to leave Jacob until the people are brought to the land he promised. Later "the God of my father" warns Jacob to escape from Laban and Laban's sons (Gen. 31:5). But as the story builds, Jacob starts initiating contact with God, which can be interpreted as Jacob's affirmative attempts to abandon the idols and gods of his former life. The result is to transform Jacob into national patriarch, his name changed to Israel. After the rape of Dinah and retribution against the Hivites, Jacob formally casts out all "foreign gods," or idols brought with the household from Laban's land of Paddan-aram (Gen. 35:2), while also bringing the Hivite women into the tribe. Each succeeding adventure shows the gradual acceptance of the one God of Israel, who has chosen Jacob and his progeny as his people.
A full picture of Jewish faith must include the oft-restated promise by God to provide Israel with land and good fortune. Jewish faith is connected to the confidence that Jacob/Israel has in God's promise to "be with you and [] restore you to the land of your fathers" (Gen. 49:21). Material possession is, however, never quite settled, as the books of Exodus, Joshua, and known history of the Jews in the ancient Middle East illustrate. Jews are separated from Canaan according as they turn away from Yahweh and back to false idols or otherwise fail to make Yahweh central to their experience.
Consider the results (40 years in the deser...