THE WAY BACK
BIBLE PASSAGE: GENESIS 35:1-15
Picture taken from Google
Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of
Solomon’s Wisdom FB page
Lesson
ideas taken from: https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons
APRIL 11, 2021
MEMORY VERSE
Let us
search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
LAMENTATIONS 3:40
INTRODUCTION:
Do you have broken promises to the Lord? I’ll give you few
seconds to think… I think you already have answers in mind. Maybe you have
because of your own personal reasons. Then, years passed, and
you forgot all your promises. Let’s
be reminded that doing this makes us weak spiritually. There are also tendencies in our spiritual life that we think
we’re okay but actually we’re not.
Before we continue, I’ll
tell you something. One of the best challenged experiences I have had was travelling
by an airplane. Before traveling, I searched how to travel and how it goes. By
searching, I found links also about how and why airplanes crash. In 2015, the
German jetliner crashed and in
2013 Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed while landing at San Francisco
International Airport. These two have the same issue, autopilot issue. What is
autopilot? It is a device that keeps aircraft, spacecraft and ships moving in a
particular direction without human involvement.
The autopilot system relies
on a series of sensors around the aircraft that pick-up information like speed,
altitude and turbulence. That data is ingested into the computer, which then
makes the necessary changes. Basically, it can do almost everything a pilot can
do. Key phrase: almost everything. The autopilot does not steer the airplane on
the ground or taxi the plane at the gate. Generally, the pilot will handle
takeoff and then initiate the autopilot to take over for most of the flight.
What actually happened to Asiana Airlines Flight 214? It was cited that it was
autopilot issue, and the pilots assumed
the autopilot was doing something, but it wasn’t doing something on the safe
but highly automated. Patrick Smith is
an active airline pilot who has been flying commercially since 1990. He told
CNBC that the traveling public tends to imagine a pilot reclining back, reading
a newspaper, while the autopilot does all the work. The reality is actually
quite different, he said. “The auto
flying system does not fly the airplane,” he said. “The pilots fly the plane
through the automation.” (https://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/26/autopilot-what-the-system-can-and-cant-do.html)
Why I quoted this news? Do
you get the point here? Sometimes in our Christian journey we let the world, and
our own selves take the journey. We don’t let the pilot of life, which is God,
take the wheel.
In Genesis 28:18-22, it
looks like Jacob makes a sincere vow to God, but as we’re going to see, Jacob
is actually doing the same thing many of us do when we find ourselves in a tight spot – he plays “Let’s Make a
Deal” with God. He knows that his brother Esau has promised to kill him as soon
as Isaac dies, so he makes a deal with God – “God if you’ll protect me, then
this place will be your house, and I will give you a tenth of everything I
have”. But for the next 30 years of his life, even though God keeps his part of
the bargain, Jacob basically puts his life on autopilot and pretty much forgets
his promise.
When Jacob, the cheater,
gets to Laban’s home, he gets a little of his own medicine. He falls in love
with Rachel, the younger daughter, but after working for Laban for seven years,
Laban substitutes his older daughter, Leah, for Rachel on the wedding night. So,
Jacob ends up working another 7 years for Laban in order to take Rachel as his
wife, too.
Jacob ends up serving Laban
for another 6 years after he marries Rachel. During his time with Laban, 11
sons and a daughter are born to Jacob – six sons and a daughter by Leah, 2 sons
by Leah’s servant Zilpah, 2 sons by Rachel’s servant, Bilhah, and one son by
Rachel.
Time came that Jacob had an issue towards Laban’s
son, and he also noticed that Laban had already changed. Then in verse 3 of
chapter 31, God comes to Jacob and tells
him to return to the land of his fathers and promises to be with him. In
verse 13 of that same chapter, God reminded him to go back to Bethel where he
made his vow and return also to his kindred. So, Jacob takes his family and
livestock and leaves Paddan-aran. On the way, he finds out that his brother
Esau is coming to meet him, and he develops an elaborate plan to try and
preserve his family since he assumes Esau is coming to kill him. (He assumed
because he knew in his heart that he made a mistake against his brother)
That night Jacob wrestles with God, and God changes
his name from Jacob – cheater – to Israel – which means “He strives with God”.
But what is interesting is that throughout the next several chapters of
Genesis, up to the passage that we’ll read in just a moment, he is still called
Jacob, and not Israel. As we’ll see, that seems to be because Jacob still isn’t
ready to live his life intentionally for God.
The next morning, Esau comes with 400 men, but
instead of attacking Jacob, he embraces him. But instead of going home to the land of his people as God had
commanded, Jacob stops in the city of Shechem and buys a piece of land there
and pitches his tent.
That turns out to be a very poor decision because
there in Shechem, Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is violated by the son of Hamor, the
prince of the land. And in his usual “hands off” approach to life, Jacob hears
about this atrocity but really doesn’t do anything to address it. But his sons
devise a plan to seek revenge and Simeon and Levi kill all the males in the
city. Jacob actually rebukes them because now he is afraid that the Canaanites
and Perizzites are going to come and attack him.
That brings
us to this morning’s passage in Genesis 35
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/jacob
LESSON OUTLINE:
1. WE MUST RETURN TO THE ALTAR (GENESIS
35:1)
And God
said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an
altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of
Esau thy brother.
Thirty years have no passed since Jacob first made his vow to
God there at Bethel – twenty years serving Laban and another 10 years in the
ungodly city of Shechem. But after 30 years Jacob finally decides to come home
to God.
Herbert Jackson, a foreign missionary, describes how, when he
was newly "out in the field," he was assigned an automobile that
wouldn't start without a push. So, for two years he got someone to push-start
his car in the morning so he could get going. Then all day, as Jackson made his
rounds in his mission station, he either kept the motor running or parked the
car on a hill. That way he could be certain to get it going again.
After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He
went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of
class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either
park on a hill or leave his car running. He used this ingenious procedure to
two years. Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary
came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for
getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the
explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, “Why Dr. Jackson, I
believe the only trouble is this loose cable.” He gave the cable a twist,
stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the
engine roared to life. For two years, needless trouble had become routine. The
power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting
the power to work. Like us, Christians, we have the power, but the connection
is lost. Like the internet connection, even the Wi-Fi is okay, but your Wi-Fi
connection is turned off in your phone, you cannot connect to your loved ones.
Back to our lesson, from
outward appearances Jacob was not that far from God—only thirty miles distant
from Bethel. He had also built an altar
at Shechem (33:20), so there must have been some kind of religious
observance there. Spiritually, however, Jacob was not near to God at all. Jacob
told Esau he would meet him at Seir (33:14), but he went the opposite direction
to Succoth, then to Shechem. Jacob somewhat passively accepted the rape of his
daughter and even entered into an agreement whereby the purity of the covenant
people of God would be lost (chapter 34). Jacob was preoccupied with prosperity
and security at the expense of purity and piety. He is near Bethel but not near
to the God of Bethel—at least not in chapter 34.
Jacob’s condition is not
that different from many Christians in our own time. We may appear to be
walking close to God while the opposite is true. We may still continue to
preserve the forms and observe the rituals of piety, but, in fact, the reality
is not there. Paul described this condition as “…holding to a form of
godliness, although they have denied its power…” (II Timothy 3:5). We may be like those in
the church at Ephesus, who have “lost their first love” (Revelation 2:4), or those at Laodicea
who, due to their wealth and security, considered themselves to be doing well
spiritually when they were destitute, cold, and indifferent (Revelation 3:15-17).
2. WE NEED TO PUT AWAY THE DISTRACTIONS
(GENESIS 31:30; 35:2,4)
Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with
him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change
your garments:
One of the problems hinders
us in the way back to God is the distractions of the world along the way. We
can’t give up the pleasures and idols we have with the world. Jacob’s family only got right with God
after Jacob himself did. This again shows us the tremendous leadership role
men have within the family. A man resisting God will see the same effect in his
children. A man who gets right with God will also see the effect in his family.
·
Jacob’s children kept foreign gods because their mother did. Rachel kept
the household idols of her father (Genesis 31:19). No matter how hard we try to teach our children godly conduct, they
will continue to do what we do.
·
“In families it is often
well, when you see that things are wrong, just to call the household together
and say, ‘We must draw near unto God with peculiar earnestness, for we are
going astray. We have not given up family prayer, but we must now make it special,
and with double zeal draw nigh unto God.’ I am afraid that some of you neglect
family prayer. If you do, I am sure it will work evil in your
households.” (Spurgeon)
In Genesis 31:32 Jacob said, “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him
not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it
to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them”. Despite of the reminders of
Jacob to get rid of their idols, still, Rachel got and kept them.
Jacob mentioned to change their garments. This was an important
step, both literally and as a symbol of something spiritual. Jacob wanted them
to be cleaned up and in their best frame of mind to come before the God they
had neglected.
3. YOU’LL FACE HEARTACHES ALONG THE WAY
(GENESIS 31:30; 35:2,4)
God
had spoken to Jacob ten years before at Peniel, but not since, as far as the
text reveals. During that time, Jacob had become comfortable in his partial obedience in Shechem. Then the
tragedies of Dinah’s rape and his sons’ bloody revenge shook Jacob out of his
complacency. Suddenly, he was ready to listen, and God spoke again. In verse 1,
the Lord brings to Jacob’s mind how He had appeared to him when he fled from
Esau. In verse 3, Jacob refers to that time as the day of his distress. It
often takes a day of distress to get our attention so that we’ll snap out of
our spiritual slump.
But
then we mistakenly think that since we’ve turned the corner and now, we’re
obeying God that He will give us (or even owes us) a trouble‑free life. But obedience to God doesn’t mean that He
will reward us with a life free from trials. It’s often the trials that
keep us clinging to Him so that we don’t fall back into another slump. It’s
significant that in this chapter which records Jacob’s spiritual recovery,
there are no less than four tragedies which bring sorrow into Jacob’s life.
·
The
first is the death of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse (35:8). She was only mentioned
before (not by name) when she left Haran with Rebekah, who was going to marry
Isaac (24:59). If she had cared for Rebekah as an infant, she would be very old
by now, probably about 170. It is not revealed when she joined Jacob’s company,
but her presence probably indicates that Rebekah had died sometime during
Jacob’s years in Haran. As close as he
was to his mother, the death of her beloved nurse would have been tough for
Jacob. The name given to Deborah’s burial place, “The Oak of Weeping,” shows his grief.
·
The second sorrow to hit Jacob was the greatest of his
life: his beloved Rachel died in
childbirth (35:16‑20). (Jacob’s journey from Bethel toward Hebron was
probably not a violation
of God’s command in 35:1, which meant, “Stay at Bethel long enough to fulfill
your vows.” See also the command in 31:3.) Jacob had loved Rachel at first
sight. He had worked seven years for her and then, when he got cheated with
Leah, he worked seven more for Rachel. Although his grief is passed over
in Genesis 35, it is
revealed about 40
years later, when Jacob on his deathbed poignantly recalls, “... when I came
from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey,
... and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (Gen. 48:7).
·
Jacob’s third sorrow is mentioned on the heels of
Rachel’s death: Reuben, his firstborn
son, committed incest with Rachel’s maid, Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine. This
was probably Reuben’s
attempt to grab the family inheritance for himself, much as Absalom in his
rebellion publicly went in to David’s concubines, and Adonijah later attempted
to usurp power from
his brother, Solomon, with the same scheme. Reuben’s crass sin must have stung
Jacob deeply (Gen. 49:3-4).
·
Jacob’s
final sorrow in this chapter is the death of his aged father, Isaac.
The text might make us think that Jacob arrived just before Isaac’s death. But
from other chronological notices in
Genesis, we learn that Jacob lived in Hebron with Isaac about twelve years
before Isaac died. But Isaac’s death is presented here to wrap up this part of Jacob’s history. It was another sorrow
for Jacob, as another link with the past was removed.
https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-62-getting-out-spiritual-slump
The point
is that coming out of a spiritual slump doesn’t guarantee that life ahead will
be rosy. Obedience doesn’t mean a trouble‑free life. But in the inevitable
trials God uses to shake us out of spiritual indifference and to keep us
trusting Him, we have the God of Jacob as “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1, 7, 11). Trials
can either make us self-focused or God-focused. If we allow the trials to help
us put God
back in the rightful center of our lives, we will recover from a spiritual
slump, as Jacob
did.
4. GOD’S BLESSING AND GUIDANCE ARE
ALWAYS THERE.
In Genesis 28: 13 – God appeared to Jacob’s dream and
promised to his seed.
In Genesis 30:41 – Jacob’s cattle, servants, asses and camels
grew exceedingly.
Genesis 31:12 – Jacob was tricked by Laban but God guided and
blessed him.
Genesis 31:29 – God spoke to Laban not to harm Jacob.
In Genesis 35:5 – the terror
of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue
after the sons of Jacob.
Then God appeared to Jacob
again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. And God said to him,
“Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be
your name.” Thus He called him Israel. God also said to him, “I am God
Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall
come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. And the land
which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the
land to your descendants after you.” Then God went up from him in the place
where He had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He
had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a libation on it; he
also poured oil on it. So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (Genesis
35:9-15).
CONLUSION:
There are times in our
life when we must stop and reconsider our relationship with the Lord, and we
find that we need to recommit, rededicate, and return to the Lord. Without the
daily interaction with the Lord, we have a tendency to do things the way we want
to or the way we feel would best suit our situation. However, our ways are not
always the Lord’s ways.
Jacob’s renewal at Bethel necessitated several actions on
Jacob’s part. First, he came to the point where he stopped going his own sinful
way and once again obeyed that which he knew to be the will
of God. There cannot be renewal without
obedience. Second, there cannot be
renewal without separation. Jacob put away those foreign gods which he had
so long tolerated, and which were so offensive to God. Finally,
Jacob’s renewal involved reconciliation with those who had been injured and
offended by his sins. We cannot be
reconciled to God without being reconciled with men (cf. Matthew 5:23-24).
