1. 35:1-8 Back to Bethel
2. 35:9-15 God’s Covenantal Blessing
Reaffirmed
3. 35:16-29 Sin and Sadness in the Family
4. 35:27-26 Back home with Isaac
Nearly thirty years have passed since Jacob vowed to return
to Bethel, where God had revealed Himself to him during his escape from Esau to
Paddan-aram (Gen.28) where his uncle
Laban lived.
Now it had been approximately ten years since Jacob had left his uncle to return to Canaan. We saw that he had built a house
in Succoth (33:17) and then in Shechem
(33:18ff) where he had also built an
altar (33:20). You see, the original plan was for Jacob to
return to Bethel, the place he had
vowed to God that he would return to (28:20-22).
Bethel was only 45 km’s from Shechem, but somehow Jacob never got back to this
place of oath and promise.
You cannot break an oath, or a vow made before God with
impunity, and so we are not surprised to see what happened in Chapter
34 where we read of his daughter Dinah’s rape, and the terrible revenge killing of the Shechemites, undertaken by the sons of Jacob.
All this was the
result of settling in the wrong neighbourhood.
Not only
was this a spiritually cold and disappointing season for Jacob and his covenant
family (God is never mentioned in that 34th chapter), but the testimony of his family was
seriously damaged at this time. Somewhere along the way Jacob had lost the vision of God as he
became preoccupied with settling at any old place that pleased the natural eye.
We can say that his faith had grown
lukewarm[1].
He had backslidden. He is near Bethel but not near to the God of Bethel. This experience
is unfortunately all too common to all Christians. We may be near God and near His means of grace
but in our hearts we may be far from God.
Thank God then for Genesis 35 where we shall find that
Jacob is helped by the grace of God to find his way back to the original plan.
1. Back to Bethel (35:1-8)
God said to Jacob, “Arise,
go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an
altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau”
(35:1)
Why did God wait so long to
tell Jacob to get back
to Bethel? The answer is simple.
The matter was actually settled in Genesis
28. God does not have to send out
daily reminders. He has spoken once and that is enough! Jacob would have done well with what we preach
to our children – insisting on first time obedience! Jacob clearly had neither obeyed nor listened
to God. But now the pain caused in Chapter
34 becomes God’s megaphone to get Jacob’s attention – to speak
once more into Jacob’s life. We saw that Jacob and his family had now become
a stench in the land (34:30). It was
only at this point that Jacob listened to the voice of God reminding him of his
oath and duty to return to Bethel.
Now here is a useful teaching moment with respect to the
interplay between God’s will and man’s will, particularly as this applies to
God’s covenant children. We do have a
free will in the sense of being able to choose whether or not we will obey that
which God has commanded. BUT,while we can resist the will of God we will not hinder God’s ultimate purposes.
God allows his covenant
children to choose their own way, but it is clear that in doing so they will reap
the consequences of their disobedience. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, God will
bring his covenant people back to His will and purpose. And when they have been hurt and when they are left
bruised and bleeding as a result of their sinful
choices, our gracious covenant God picks
them up and sends them in the right direction.
But another thing was needed before Jacob could move to
Bethel, where God’s presence was formerly made manifest. Jacob needed to purge his covenant family from the presence of foreign gods and
their influences. Isn’t it strange that until now he had done nothing
about these? These foreign gods (i.e. visible images -35:2,4), and also the
earrings (35:4) are probably a reference to the household gods that Rachel
had stolen from her dad in 31:19, when they had fled from Laban. In
addition, this culture and practise of
keeping household gods probably had
spread among the clan. This this
idolatry had to be decisively dealt with before moving on into the presence of
a holy God.
Again we are struck by the
spiritual coldness and indifference of Jacob concerning these things (which he
knew to be wrong) whilst he lived in Shechem.
And now, all of a sudden when God called him to return to Bethel, he
was greatly concerned about these things. It took a crisis to confront his lukewarm
idolatrous heart.
And so, as soon as
they left for Bethel, back on the right road, we learn that no one pursued the covenant family, for “a terror from God[2] fell upon the cities … so that they did not
pursue the sons of Jacob” (35:5).
When you are back on the right road again, the Lord of that road will keep you
safely from all harm. We also learn from this that our protection and safety is
not to be found in our own strength or in alliances with pagans, but in the
fear of God. Arriving at Bethel Jacob, in keeping with the command of
God, built an altar, calling it El-Bethel
(lit. God of the House of God). It was here we
read that that Deborah, his mother Rebekah’s
maid, died.
2. God’s Covenantal Blessing Reaffirmed (35:9-15)
God appeared to Jacob
again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him (35:9). God first appeared to
Jacob at Bethel, 30 years earlier. And now
God appears to him ‘again’
here at Bethel 30 years later, and He blesses him. The promises given 30 years ago (28:13-15) are
reaffirmed. And the promise of
32:28 (Jacob renamed Israel) is reaffirmed. From now on Jacob would be
called Israel. He would be fruitful and would become a nation and a company of
nations, and the land promised to Abraham and Isaac would be his and his
descendants (35:10-12).
We are told that the presence of God at
that time was visible, and
that God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him (35:13). Now in response, Jacob set up a pillar of stone there and
poured a drink offering and oil upon it (35:14). Jacob renamed that place, originally known as
Luz, as Bethel (35:6 cf. 35:15).
It was absolutely essential that Jacob came here and did this. He should have
done it in the first place. He was back in sync with God.
3. 35:16-29 Further Sin and Sadness in the Family
Then they journeyed from
Bethel…. Having
fulfilled his oath and promise to God to worship Him at
Bethel, the place of his first encounter with God, he needs to complete the
journey to see his aged father, Isaac. Now we read that somewhere between Bethel and
Bethlehem, Rachel went into hard labour
(35:16). Her life was at stake. The midwife
tried to encourage Rachel by informing her that it was another son she wanted
so badly. But the labour was so hard
that Rachel was now dying, and in
this process she named this second son Ben-oni, (son of my sorrow). Jacob however changed it to Benjamin (son of my right hand). Rachel
who was Jacob’s first love, was buried on the way to Bethlehem, the later
birthplace of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Sorrow is never far from this family. While Jacob was camping
with his covenant family beyond the tower of Eder (35:25), another painful thing happened. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn
son, had a sexual affair with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, who was also Jacob’s
concubine. “And Israel heard of it” (35:22). Later, we read that Jacob will
take the rights of the firstborn away from
Reuben (cf. 49:34).
There is more to
this story than meets the eye. Bilhah was not a young woman. She probably could have been Reuben’s mother.
So what was this all about? An incident
later in the history of Israel, in I Kings
2:13-25 helps us to understand what might have been behind this. Adonijah one of David’s sons wanted to inherit
the throne of his father David very badly. He asked Bathsheba, David’s wife to ask king David for Abishag the Shunammite
(one of David’s consorts) as a wife. Adonijah
of course knew that to claim the king’s
harem was to possess the kingdom. That was the basis for his request. Solomon (Batheba’s
son and king designate) knew it also and therefore
he had him put to death for treason.
This may explain the action of Reuben. He, like Adonijah, was
the older brother, who would have been expected to assume the rights of the
firstborn. He, like Adonijah, could, by this act of “possessing Jacob’s harem”, assume the headship of the tribe of Israel. In this we can
see that the battle for Jacob’s succession was
beginning. Previous to this time, God had
chosen to fulfil His covenant to Abraham through one son to the exclusion of
others. Now God’s people would be
begotten through all the sons of Jacob.
4. 35:27-26
Back Home with Isaac
The final event of the chapter records the meeting of Jacob
with his father Isaac, and his brother Esau. Perhaps this was most difficult
thing for Jacob - to stand before his
father, whom he had deceived in order to obtain the blessing. One might conclude that Jacob had scarcely
arrived when Isaac died, but there is evidence
to believe that there might have been a few years until his father’s death. The burial of Isaac
was a cooperative effort of both Jacob and Esau. There is no indication at this point that Esau still intended to
carry out his threat from years past that he would get even with Jacob once his
father died (cf. 27:41).
Conclusion: What we can
learn from the Chapter
1. The importance of spiritual renewal. The goal of the
believer’s life is to stay close
to God. However, it is in the nature of a fallen being to drift. At such times
it is important to go back to the place of our first love and recommit ourselves there to our God.
2.
Renewal means repentance.
a. Jacob needed
to stop going his own sinful way.
He needed to do the will of God. There cannot be renewal without repentance and
renewed obedience.
b. Jacob needed to put
away those foreign gods which he had so long tolerated and which were so
offensive to God.
c. Jacob’s renewal involved
reconciliation with those who had been injured and offended by his sins. We
cannot be reconciled to God without being reconciled with men (cf. Matthew
5:23-24).
3. We
need to learn that even when
we renew our relationship with
God, all things will not go smoothly for us. Life in this fallen world will
be challenging until we get to our
heavenly Canaan. In this we must learn
that our afflictions are the very things which often draw us nearer to
God and strengthen our faith. Had the tragedy regarding Dinah not occurred, Jacob
would have been content to remain amongst the Canaanites.
4. We learn
again that we reap what we sow (cf. Galatians 6:7). Much of
the heartache which Jacob experienced in this chapter was the result of his
previous sins.
5. Thank
God for His persevering grace with us. Let us not conclude, however that it
matters little what we do. It matters a great deal. There was much needless
heartache and sorrow in Jacob’s life because of his waywardness. Sin is never
worth the price. But thank God that at the end
His grace IS greater than all our sin. Amen
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