Download 52 Genesis 35v2-29 Return To Blessing

Presentation 52
Presentation 52
Introduction
Jacob had withheld wholehearted obedience from God and had begun to pay
the consequences - at home a breakdown of parental authority. Jacob’s sons
had lost respect for him, and had without consultation slaughtered the
inhabitants of Shechem. This had made them odious to the surrounding
nations. It seemed only a matter of time before their neighbours banded
together to wipe out Jacob’s household.
Into this situation God spoke and recalled
Jacob to Bethel to fulfil the vow he had
made years earlier. It was a call to repentance
and faith and to a new obedience to God.
Jacob knew there was nowhere else to go.
God had hemmed him into himself.
Presentation 52
Past Blessings Remembered
One of the immediate things that characterised Jacob's life at this time was a
remembrance of the past blessings of God. We sometimes sing, ‘O God our
help in ages past our hope for years to come' and by doing so we are
encouraging our hearts to believe that the God, who has proved himself
faithful to us down through the years will continue to be faithful.
We trust that the God, who has come to us in
our distress, been with us in the dark and
come running to meet us with open arms,
when we have returned from our backsliding,
will continue to be the God with whom we
can confidently face the future.
Presentation 52
Past Blessings Remembered
God had called Jacob back to Bethel the place he
had first encountered God some thirty years
previously. His vision of the ladder had taught
him that God would be near to bless him. That
encounter had produced a vow, which
committed Jacob to God. And while the
composition of the vow may have revealed a
theological naiveté, it was the sincerity of
Jacob’s heart that God responded to. And on the
strength of God's promise to bless him, Jacob
had endured his exile years.
These memories would have been vivid as Jacob
journeyed back to Bethel. cf v3 …
Presentation 52
Past Blessings Remembered
Are you also aware of God's blessing as you look back over your life? Do you
spend time mulling over God's goodness? In the lines of the hymn do you
“Count your blessings and name them one by one” so that you are surprised
by what God has done? This is an important spiritual exercise. Some like
Jacob may say, 'When I first committed my life to God my understanding of
God and of the gospel was very limited. But God has been faithful and
blessed down the years. I can see how he has been able to bring good even
out of my sin and disobedience...”
Presentation 52
Past Blessings Remembered
This ability to reflect upon God's past blessings contains the secret for
growing old gracefully. When you meet elderly people some are vinegary,
prickly, complaining, individuals while others are quite delightful people. The
thing that makes the difference is their relationship to God. Some have hearts
filled with bitterness, lives filled with regrets and what they consider to be
lost opportunities.
I used to visit an elderly gentleman and it was possible to
predict precisely what he would say. He always spoke
of wasted opportunities and all that he might have
Been, if it hadn't been for his family, his school,
the war, the government...
Presentation 52
Past Blessings Remembered
There are others, who are free from the slights and injuries that others have
caused them. They are predominantly occupied with God and his goodness.
They think of how God has blessed their family, answered their prayers and
shown himself to be gracious. They recount the sore experiences in their lives
but revel in the way in which God has used those experiences to enrich them.
What a completely different approach to the past!
When we are old, will we be crotchety,
complaining, disgruntled individuals ,whom
others will find it hard to visit, or will we so live
in the consciousness of God’s grace and blessing
that others will enjoy our company?
Our attitude to God's past blessing shapes
our lives.
Presentation 52
Past Blessings Remembered
Jacob's return to Bethel illustrates an important spiritual principle. He had got
himself into a spiritual mess and was now returning to the place of his
original commitment to God. He realised he needed to backtrack.
A mother was knitting a jumper for her youngest child. The pattern was
complicated. A mistake was made, which was not immediately apparent.
When it was discovered there was only one thing to do. In order to follow the
designer’s pattern the work had to be ripped out to back to
the point of the mistake.
Jacob's return to Bethel involved some ripping
out. He confessed his failures and sought to put
wrong things right in order to restore his
fellowship with God.
Presentation 52
Purification and Commitment
This helps explain Jacob's concern for the renewed commitment and
purification of himself and his family in v2-3. Are you surprised that there
were still idols in Jacob's household? Rachel had stolen them, when they fled
from her father’s home. If they were removed to prevent Laban from using
them for divination, why are they still in her possession? Jacob's action
suggests these idols were being used by some of his family.
Had Jacob weakly tolerated their use? Had the time they
spent living cheek by jowl with the inhabitants of Shechem
stimulated this interest in idolatry'? Was it a case of following
the worship pattern of everyone else in town?
Presentation 52
Purification and Commitment
Jacob, the restored penitent, now exercises a new authority in his home. He
requires these harmful idols to be removed. There is not a murmur of
complaint from his family. Did they recognise the authority of God in this
command? If a parent’s spiritual backsliding can result in the erosion of their
authority, then their revived spiritual state encourages their family to take
them seriously again. The response of Jacob's household was more than
token obedience they gave Jacob all the foreign
gods and the rings in their ears v4. In that age
earrings seem to have been associated with
idolatry.
They also took part in a ceremonial
washing and put on fresh clothes.
These actions symbolise an inner spiritual
cleansing, having first repented of and
discarded their sinful practices.
Presentation 52
Purification and Commitment
We must not underestimate the significance of these symbols. They were
saying in the most meaningful way, ‘we want to break with our sinful past’.
Their willingness to do so indicates that they were not going through some
empty ritual, which would not impact upon their day to day behaviour. They
are anxious to have their heart relationship with God repaired. It is the heart
attitude, lying behind the symbol, which God recognises and honours!
Just as God had protected Jacob and his
household from the rage of Laban and
the anger of Esau so now he protects
them from the vengeance of the
surrounding population cf v5...
Presentation 52
Purification and Commitment
God always responds to repentance and faith. Jacob's household had time
to reflect upon the folly of their past. God had not only hemmed Jacob into
himself but his family also. When men and women find themselves at rock
bottom it is then that they are prepared to recognise the sinfulness of their
sins, and are more likely to give them up. Today, God continues to say, 'Get
rid of your foreign gods, get rid of those things which prevent you from
enjoying fellowship with me and which have turned off the tap of my
blessing’.
Do you need to wait until
you hit rock bottom before
relinquishing those things
which are damaging your
communion with God?
Presentation 52
Purification and Commitment
Upon arrival at their destination one further clue is given concerning Jacob’s
spiritual recovery. He describes ‘Bethel’ as ‘El Bethel’ v7. In Gen.28.16-17
after his dream of the ladder stretching up to heaven, he was impressed by
the location of his blessing. He said, “surely the Lord is in this place.. How
awesome is this place”. He thought of Bethel as a holy site. However, by the
time we reach Gen. 35 the spiritual focus of Jacob has shifted.
He is now not preoccupied with the place of the
blessing but with the God who blesses.
‘El Bethel’ means, ‘The God of the house of God’.
Presentation 52
Purification and Commitment
Young Christians can so easily be taken up with places and experiences. But
as we get older and if spiritual maturity accompanies advancing years, we are
less taken up with these things. The important thing in our life is not the
place we were converted or the church, where we were baptised but that we
are growing in our knowledge of the living God.
A God who continues to reveal himself and who
has proved faithful and gracious down the years.
Wonderful past experiences are no substitute
for a conscious daily walk with God. The thing
We should rejoice in more than anything else is
Presentation 52
Purification and Commitment
In Ps 43 the Psalmist is conscious that God seemed far away. He asks to be led
to God's holy hill on which God's house was built. Upon his arrival he
intended to go to God's altar, not for its own sake but as a means of drawing
near to 'God his exceeding joy'.
When we are spiritually healthy,
the prospect of coming to worship
is a delight. We do not come out
of duty, or because our family
drags us along. We do not come
to meet our friends, or because
we like the atmosphere but in
order to approach 'God our
exceeding joy’ and enjoy
fellowship with him.
Presentation 52
A Fresh Revelation
Jacob received a fresh revelation v9-13. This is God's response to Jacob's
renewed commitment. The last revelation of its kind in Genesis. The age of
the patriarchs is closing. When we respond to God in repentance and faith,
he will encourage each fresh step of commitment. We are nearer to God, in
the sense that we have a greater awareness of our fellowship with him.
If our sin and disobedience causes God to appear to be 'afar off’ then a fresh
commitment will heightens our sense of fellowship with him.
“If we claim to have fellowship with
him yet walk in darkness, we lie and
do not live the truth. But if we walk in the
light as he is in the light we have
fellowship with one another and the
Blood of Jesus his Son purifies us
from all sin.” 1 John 1.5-7
Presentation 52
A Fresh Revelation
Look at the substance of God's revelation. God confirms the new name given
Jacob at Peniel in v10. There is also the promise of ‘fruitfulness’. But Jacob is
now old and his family is complete. How do we understand this promise? In
terms of his descendants, who would eventually become the nation of Israel.
Despite Jacob’s spiritually chequered career his was a significant role in the
purposes of God. A nation would come into being, who would identify
themselves as followers of the ‘God of Abraham and of Isaac and Jacob’.
Jacob's God is our God. A God who bears patiently with our stubborn wilful
hearts and hems us in to himself. This God comes to us, when as a result of
our disobedience our world seems to failing apart and he offers us again and
again, the grace of a new beginning.
Presentation 52
Letting Go of the Past
The closing verses deal with three deaths, that of Deborah who had been a
faithful servant in the household for many years. Then there is the death of
Rachel as she gave birth to Benjamin her second son and finally the death of
Isaac, Jacob's father. All these precious bonds with the past are cut one after
another. One cannot help but think that it is the kindness and mercy of God
that ensured that Jacob was for the first time in his life truly secure in God's
love and settled concerning the future, before these bonds were severed.
Presentation 52
Letting Go of the Past
We further see the kindness of God towards Isaac, who for years must have
been worried about Jacob and God’s purposes. Is it fanciful to suggest that
during all the years Jacob was away from home there was a father who was
praying for his boy? Now at long last, Jacob was settled into the blessing of
God, who had dealt faithfully and graciously with him.
Those of us who are parents should be encouraged to
pray for our children. We need to learn to hold onto
God for them, when their hearts seem cool towards
God and they appear to have made a mess of their
spiritual lives. We may not always see them come
to a place of fruitfulness before we die but the
story of Jacob encourages believing parents
to hold onto God for their children.
Presentation 52