Genesis
35 – Endings and Beginnings
God
once more appeared and told Jacob what to do. This was part of the Bethel
promise.
We
walk by faith when we obey God despite circumstances or consequences.
They
are now returning to Bethel and once they arrive, Jacob tells his family to
give up all the idols they acquired from the Hittites, and remember Rachel had
taken her dad’s idols. They gave them to
Jacob to bury under the Terebinth tree.
Terebinth trees were very numerous in this area and is mentioned many
times in the Bible. It is also known as
the Elah tree or Pistachio nut tree.
They
then purified themselves and built another altar. They did this out of respect and obedience to
God as Jacob and his descendants were considered Holy people. If we are coming back to God where we first
met Him, then we must put away all that is wrong in our life. Even bad habits.
Bethel
is particularly important property. He
promised it to Abraham, Isaac and now Jacob.
Now Deborah, his mother’s nurse died and was buried under another
terebinth tree. When they left Bethel
and had not travelled far, Rachel gave birth to Benjamin and died in
childbirth. The tribe of Benjamin gave
us the Apostle Paul (Phil. 3:5). Travelling on, they came to Isaac’s Father who
was 180 years old. There Isaac died and
Esau came and helped Jacob bury him.
Despite
their failures, the sons of Israel (Jacob) are the chosen instruments to
accomplish God’s will on earth.
To
catch up on previous lessons go to: https//sherryasouthard@blogspot.com
J.
Vernon McGee commentary, Nelson Commentary,
NKJ version.
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