"Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"
Today's Blog Title: "Jacob's Return to Bethel"
Today's Scripture Reading: Genesis 35:1-15
Today's Key Verse: Genesis 35:3 "Let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar to there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."
In Chapter 34, we saw how Shechem had rape Dinah, Jacob's daughter. We saw that Hamor the Hivite, and the father of Shechem, came to Jacob and had asked his permission for his son to marry Dinah. We saw how angry the brothers of Dinah were over this defilement, and how they deceitfully told Hamor that if they were to follow there custom of circumcision, then they would "give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us." (Genesis 34:16)
Because Shechem loved Dinah so much, he and his father went back to the males of the city and told them that they would have to be circumcised. At the close of Chapter 34, we saw how Simeon and Levi, on the 3rd day of the circumcision and when they were in great pain, went in and killed all the males, looted the city, and brought back captive the women, small children, livestock and the wealth of the city.
As Chapter 35 opens, we see for the fifth time that God visits Jacob. After the incident at the close of Chapter 34, God tells Jacob to go Bethel (House of God), where God had first appeared to him. In verse 1, we will also note, that this is the first time in the Bible, that God commanded an altar be made for Him.
Jacob then commands that ALL idols were to be removed from his household. These gods were foreign gods of other people, not of Jacob. The True and Living God was Jacob's God. His whole household were to purify themselves and change their garments as they prepared for an encounter with the Living and Holy God.
Jacob, as God had commanded, made an altar to worship God and he recalled God's constant protection, and the fulfillment of His promises, as a reason to obey and worship God. The people gave Jacob all the foreign idols and earrings, and Jacob and hid them under the terebinth tree.
As Jacob and his family traveled, we see that God's protection was all around Jacob, and that no one from the surrounding cities pursued him or his family. "Wow" The Power of Our God.
In verse 8, we are told that Deborah, a nurse of Rebekah dies and she was buried under a terebinth tree below Bethel. Starting in verse 9, we now read that God renews his everlasting covenant with Jacob. God then validates his name change from Jacob to Israel, and reaffirms His promises to him. God says to Jacob "I am God Almighty". God used His great name to attest His strong relationship with Jacob. The Living God made His will known and ascended back to heaven.
Jacob now sets up a pillar. This is the second pillar Jacob has set up at Bethel to commemorate God's revelation. At the close of verse 15, we see that Jacob consecrated the pillar by pouring wine and oil over it.
Today's Closing Question and Comment: "Does your experience with God enable you to influence your family and others?" We see that Jacob takes all the foreign gods away from the people since there was only One True and Living God to serve. God then visits Jacob and reaffirms the everlasting covenant with him by telling him, "I am God Almighty" thus confirms His strong relationship with Jacob. Just as Jacob buried the idols from the old life, we as Christians, need to bury the baggage of the old life we lived before we knew Christ.
Jesus, draw me close, Closer, Lord, to You
Let the world around me fade away.
Jesus, draw me close, Closer, Lord to You
For I desire to worship and obey
Heavenly Father, As we continue to read over and over, from Your word of your continued faithfulness, we are thankful that we Serve a God who never changes, and who is always in total control of our lives and in every situation around us. Help us to bury the baggage of our old life, that in doing so we might focus more on serving You.
Amen
Have a God Filled and Spirit Led Day. Go in Peace and Seve the Lord with Gladness. Love God More Today and always remember, when you have a spiritual defeat that yells, "I Can't", God will whisper "BUT I CAN".
Yours in Christ,
Cindi
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