MONDAY 16 August 2021 “Settle” Genesis 35:1-5

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends, let’s begin a new week together,

In our world of rapid and frequent change, do you sometimes long for things to ‘settle down’? Look across the landscape of your life… your family, your career, your friendships, your spiritual life… are there some areas of your life that need to ‘settle’ from their volatility? Do you have a plan for that?

What would you do if you received a message from God saying “settle down”? Lately we’ve been traveling with Jacob on his return from living for 20 years in Haran. He has arrived back in his boyhood home region of Canaan, and initially Jacob settled near Shechem where his grandfather Abraham first settled when he moved to Canaan more than 150 years before. But Genesis 35 begins with these words: “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there and build an altar there to God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” My friends, I don’t know exactly how Jacob knew God was speaking to him, but it’s clear he understood God’s message! Do you remember what happened at Bethel the last time Jacob was there about 20 years before? Genesis 28 gives us that story.

Jacob had begun his northbound journey of running away from his family and especially his avenging brother Esau. When he came to this place, which he later named Bethel, he was so tired he slept on the ground, using a big rock as his pillow! Now that’s tired! In his sleep that night Jacob had a dream of a ladder reaching from heaven to earth and angels going up and down, and God standing at the top. That night God promised Jacob that God was going to continue, through Jacob, the Covenant God had established with Abraham. Then God had made this promise to Jacob: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land...” (Gen. 28:15)

Jacob was all alone, running in fear, when he met God the first time at Bethel. Now, 20 years later, Jacob has a very large family and very successful business with many employees. This time God’s word to Jacob fulfills that promise of God made at Bethel 20 years ago! God has watched over Jacob and He has greatly blessed Jacob, and now God is instructing Jacob to move his large family and business from Shechem to Bethel and ‘settle there’.

Can you imagine his excitement? In my mind I see Jacob gathering his big family around the campfire that night. Come on, sit down with me and let’s listen in as Jacob tells his family about this word from God: “Family, I have received a fresh word from God. He wants us to pack up and move again, this time to a very special place where I met God 20 years ago. Let me tell you the story, for it was in this place God promised me that I would have a large family. He knew about all of you long before I did! So tomorrow we’re going to a very, very special place called Bethel. It’s a place of encounter with God. About 20 years ago….” Look around, do you see the children’s eyes wide with wonder as their Dad tells them a great God story? Have you done that my friends with your kids and grandkids?

It was important Jacob explain to his family that they were moving not because he was bored and wanted to move, but because God had spoken. They would move in obedience to God’s directions! But Genesis 35 tells us there was a problem and it’s clear Jacob had some ‘house cleaning’ to do with his family BEFORE they moved to Bethel! The Genesis record puts it this way: “Jacob said to his household and all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you and purify yourself and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and who has been with me wherever I have gone.’ (Gen. 35:2,3) Do you see the problem? Now let’s remember Jacob and his family had no church, no pastor or priest or rabbi. They had no Bible nor any other sacred writings about God. All they had was the stories Jacob had told them about the God of his father Isaac and especially his grandfather Abraham. So what do you and your family have that gives you important spiritual vitality, hope? My family and I have Jesus and God’s Word the Bible, and a great, dynamic church we are part of… what about you?

What does it mean to you that Jacob had to ask his family to give up their ‘foreign gods‘? Do you Remember Rachel, Jacob’s wife, had stolen her father’s ‘gods’ when they left Haran, and Laban came charging after them both to say goodbye to his daughters and grandkids, but also to find his ‘household gods’ that were missing? Jacob had evidently NOT done a very good job of being the spiritual leader of his family and his household over these years. He had done what many, many men do. He had allowed his family to wander around spiritually, choosing their own ‘gods’. Evidently neither his lifestyle as a husband or a dad or a businessman had drawn the respect and attention of his family in a way that they could tell his spirituality permeated his life, his business practices, his relationships and his life decisions. In fact, we don’t see much spiritual or ethical integrity in Jacob at all, do we? His altar and worship at Shechem was one of the rare times we’ve seen spiritual vitality and leadership in Jacob. But now I see Jacob standing tall, calling his family to decision and to action. Well done Jacob… it’s about time!!

The record says: “So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.” (Gen. 35:4,5) Look at them my friends. Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah, Jacob’s wives, all collecting the little idols they had carried with them from the time they left Haran. Some of them they’d stolen from Laban’s tents, others they had either made or purchased for themselves while they lived in Haran. I suspect the servants and the shepherds did the same. Perhaps the older of Jacob’s boys are bringing some they’ve collected along the way too. Oh my, it’s quite a pile isn’t it? And then a hole… a big hole is dug to bury it all near the big oak tree. That tree will be kind of like a gravestone. A reminder that in that place they rejected and buried, to rot in the ground, those things they had worshiped!

There’s a very important life lesson here my friends. David wrote it this way in Psalm 24:3 “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD, who may stand in His Holy Place? The person who has clean hands and a pure heart, and who does not lift up their soul to an idol or swear by what is false. For such is the generation of those who seek You, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob…” Jacob was deeply convicted by this fresh word from God. It caused him to reflect carefully, honestly, deeply about the 20 years since he had been last and Bethel, the place where he met God. God had been faithful to His promise to Jacob, but oh Jacob had little to be proud of over the past 20 years. Perhaps things could change… here and now and for the rest of his life? If so, change would have to begin with cleansing! Removing from their lives ANYTHING that would draw their hearts away from the one True God, or anything that would stain their character and reputation. Thus the pit of idols and even some jewelry that may have had been cast in the images of those idols. It was time for a fresh start, a new beginning… individually and as a family!

The journey from Shechem to Bethel was not far. Abraham had walked it nearly 150 years ago. Can you see Jacob scanning the horizon as he leads his family and flocks down the road toward Bethel… with every step Jacob remembered the last time he’d been there? Word had spread around Shechem… Jacob is moving on. The people didn’t understand why, but the record shows us no one objected and no one tried to follow them. This was something very unusual happening here… a large caravan moving from Shechem, going to meet with God and ‘settle there‘ at Bethel.

Let’s pause here as we watch the procession… Jacob’s people were walking with him unable to fully comprehend what awaited them. God Himself, the Creator of the universe, has invited them to come and ‘settle down‘ at a sacred place. A place where God wants to bless them and protect them as His people! While there was likely some excitement, I think there was also some fear. . . they were going to meet with God and settle down with HIM in that place called “Bethel”, ‘the house of God,’ what awaited them, what would they experience there?

In closing today… do you have a “Bethel”? A place where you and God have met and it changed your life? Is there anything in your life, your home, your business that makes it difficult for God to bless you because, like those little idols, it distracts you from God? Do you need to do a house cleaning like Jacob’s family did? What about a heart cleansing? Anything in your heart that distracts you from God? I don’t know if Jacob and his family sang songs as they buried those idols or began the walk to Bethel, but here’s a COVID era song that might help us ponder this cry for God to cleanse our hearts in anticipation of His Bethel blessing…

Today’s Scripture is
Genesis 35:1-5.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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