Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 1 Corinthians 16, Psalm 128, Ezra 9-10
Today's scripture focus is Genesis 35
God Blesses and Renames Jacob
35 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.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,[a] because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 AndDeborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.[b]
9 God appeared[c] to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. 11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty:[d] be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.[e] 12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” 13 Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. 14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance[f] from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. 17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” 18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;[g] but his father called him Benjamin.[h] 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Scripture: (verses 1-2) "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.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."
Observation: God calls us to be obedient. God is faithful. God calls us to remember. God's grace covers us when we are following a wrong path.
Application: Even though Jacob and his household were in possession of "foreign gods" God still called him and spoke to him and gave him instructions. God still wanted to be active in Jacob's life. God never gives up on us. Never. God is always faithful and he reminded Jacob of this when He said to Jacob to go where He had appeared to Jacob in Jacob's time of need before. No matter what we have done, God's grace will cover us. Yesterday, our pastor preached a sermon on Revelation 2:1-7. (You can listen and watch the message in its entirety here) and Pastor Ron's main point to take away from the sermon was: "Remember, Repent, and Do". Remember-what God has done in the past and your relationship with Him. Repent-from your sinful ways. Do-things differently. Jacob was asked to do these same things. Remember when God was with him when he was fleeing from Esau. Repent from his foreign idol worship and to purify himself and his household and change (literally) from their old ways. Do things differently ...leave the place where you are comfortable.
Prayer: Lord, your word is so powerful even all these years later. The message connects and repeats and is so applicable to our lives even today. We are so forgetful. We have trouble seeing beyond our current needs and wants and we so often forget the ways you have been with us through the difficult times in the past. Help us to remember the past. Guide our hearts to repentance. Help us to do things different because we know you don't want us to settle for less. Amen.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 36
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 1 Corinthians 17, Psalm 129, Nehemiah 1-2
1 comment:
God is always faithful even in the midst of our unfaithfulness. His mercy is so humbling. Which truly should cause us to remember, repent, and do!
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