Read Genesis 34:30-35:15. What lessons can we take about true worship from what happened here?
Immediately after Jacob’s complaint that his peace with the Canaanites had been compromised (Genesis 34:30), and after his two sons were rebuked (Genesis 34:30), God urges Jacob to leave Shechem and return to Bethel in order to renew his covenant. Indeed, the Lord tells him that, once he gets there, he needs to build an altar.
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
Meanwhile, the first thing recorded after God’s command is Jacob’s telling his people to put away the Canaanite idols, which had been taken in the plunder of the city of Shechem and the household gods that had been stolen by Rachel (Genesis 31:19, Genesis 31:32). All this, too, is crucial to the idea of the covenant with God.
These idols had been kept and, probably, worshiped in spite of Jacob’s commitment to God. It was not enough for Jacob to leave Shechem in order to escape Canaanite influence. Jacob had to get rid of the idols within the camp and in the hearts of his people.
The process of repentance consists in more than a physical move from one place to another, or a move from one church to another. Most important, it is that we seek by God’s grace to purge the idolatry in our hearts, regardless of where we live, because we can make idols out of just about anything.
When Jacob obeys God and proceeds according to God’s commandment, God finally intervenes and “the terror of God” (Genesis 35:5, NKJV) affects all the people around them, and they do not dare attack Jacob. Jacob is, then, ready to worship with “all the people who were with him” (Genesis 35:6, NKJV), suggesting that the family unity has been restored. Jacob gives this place the name El Bethel, a reminder of his dream of the ladder, a sign that the connection between heaven and earth, which had been broken for some time, has now been restored.
The emphasis is, this time, on the God of Bethel rather than on the place itself. This personal note resonates again, when God reminds Jacob of his name “Israel” (Genesis 35:10), with the double promise that this blessing implies. Jacob’s blessing, first, means fruitfulness, the transmission of the Messianic seed and the generation of many nations (Genesis 35:11); and second, it points to the Promised Land (Genesis 35:12).
| What are subtle ways that idolatry can find its way into our hearts, and what can we do about it? |
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