35 Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.’ Genesis 35
God told Jacob to go back to the place where He’d first revealed Himself to him. Jacob’s first real encounter with God only happened when he left his father’s house and began his journey to his mother’s family. Sometimes God wants ‘All our props and supports removed’ before He can deal with us His way.
2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes’. Genesis 35
God spoke again with Jacob and the first thing he did then was to order those accompanying him to cleanse the camp. There’s no record that God told Jacob to do this, but as head of the family he felt led to tell all of them to ‘clean up the camp’. Two other examples of people in the Bible who sought God earnestly before stepping out in obedience occurred during the exile.
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we MIGHT HUMBLE OURSELVES before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘THE GRACIOUS HAND OF OUR GOD IS ON EVERYONE WHO LOOKS TO HIM, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.’ Ezra 8
16 ‘Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’ Esther 4
Humbling ourselves before God and removing conscious sin brings His help to us in times of need – some of us may need to hear this today.
The result for Jacob and his company was exactly what he wanted, God’s protection, as a foreigner in Canaan.
4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and THE TERROR OF GOD FELL ON ALL THE TOWNS AROUND THEM SO THAT NO ONE PURSUED THEM he terror of God. Genesis 35
We have to keep stepping forward with the Lord, there’s no other choice for believers. As we step out His ‘Gracious Hand is upon us’, but we can’t take any ‘foreign gods or idols’ with us. Jacob told his people to get rid of them and they all obeyed, so God came and protected them as they stepped out.
24 ‘“‘The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face towards you
and give you peace.’”
27 ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’ Numbers 6