“Jacob Comes Full Circle”

Genesis 35:1-15

 

We have reached the third act of Jacob’s life. We are wrapping things up as we read through chapters 35 and 36 and the first verse of chapter 37 will actually be the last sentence of the Jacob story. 

 

Up to this point, Jacob has returned to the land, having passed by some angels along the way. He has purchased some property and set up some booths and tents. He and his sons have managed to create some havoc with the neighbors which produced a great deal of tension. 

 

Like the first two acts, the third act also consists of three parts. The first part begins with today’s Scripture where Jacob is called by God to go back to the place where He first met Jacob when he was fleeing for his life. 

The place was called Bethel, where Jacob had built an altar and set up an agreement with Yahweh. 

 

The second part tells of Jacob’s journey from there and ends up telling us of the tragic deaths of significant people. Jacob’s favorite wife is going to die in childbirth, his dad is going to die and a friend of his mom’s, who has been with him since he was born, also dies. Even though Jacob continues to live a long life, all of the people that shaped who he was in this whole story all start dying. The last part of Jacob’s life is one of yours and my favorite, we are given a long genealogy of Esau and his descendants. 

 

Today we begin with God speaking to Jacob. He tells him, 

 

“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.”

God speaks, and this time, Jacob obeys. 

Notice how Jacob obeys. Not only does he plan to do what God told him, he commands his household and all who were with him to join him. Check out what Jacob tells his family and everyone with him, 

“Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you,”

You know, those foreign elohim you have stashed away under some saddle somewhere in your tent. 

Then Jacob tells them, 

 “and purify yourselves and change your clothes.”

You have all heard this, “Okay, clean up, put on our “Sunday go to meeting clothes,” we are going to church.” 

Next Jacob tells them where they are going, verse 3, 

“Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 

Jacob speaks, and they obey. They gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had along with the rings in their ears. Jacob commences to bury them under the oak at Shechem. 

 

All purified, they set out. And we are told,

 

“the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.”

 

This is significant, because if you remember from last week, chapter 34 ended with Jacob being afraid that because of what his sons had done, the neighboring towns would be after him. But we are told that “the terror of God” fell on the towns around them and no one came after them. Jacob is still learning what Yahweh is like. 

 

The entourage make it to Luz, also known as Bethel, in the land of Canaan. 

Jacob built an altar and called it El Bethel, the very place Jacob had met God before when he was fleeing from his brother. Remember what Jacob said the first time he met Yahweh at Bethel, 

“If you bring me back here in peace, you will be my Elohim.” 

Jacob has come full circle. This time meeting God, Jacob is not alone. God has blessed him with a huge family and lots of wealth. Jacob is finally growing up. He and everyone attached to him has stripped themselves of their Mesopotamian gods and purified themselves and put on new clothes. They are starting anew. They are the people of Yahweh now. It seems like Jacob is making good on his vow. 

 

Not only are Mesopotamian idols being buried, we are then told,  

 

“Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel.”

Deborah also came from Mesopotamia, she had been a gift to Rebekah when she left her home to be married to Isaac. The foreign elohim came from the house of Laban, Deborah came from the house of Laban. It’s as if Jacob is beginning to shed anything associated with the pagan prehistory of the Mesopotamian side of his family. 

 

It’s significant to recognize that there is no notice of the death of Rebekah. We are told only of the death and burila of her servant. Rebekah is the only patriarch or matriarch whose death goes unmentioned in Genesis. Remember what she said, “May your curse be upon me.”  One of the blessings is to have a great name. One of the curses is for your name to be lost to memory forever.  

 

Next, God appeared to Jacob again and this time He blessed him and repeated that He was changing his name. 

“Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.”

Remember the Literary Design of Genesis. Last week we went through a “flood” section, the next thing to happen is a re-creation. So we are back in an Eden moment. Leaving foreign Gods at the tree, embracing the blessing, and next God said, verse 11, 

 “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number.”

Then notice what God says, not a nation, but a community of nations will come from Israel. Not only that, Israel’s descendants will be kings. Oh yeah, and the land that God gave to Abraham and Isaac, that will belong to him, and to his descendants after him. 

Jacob has acted like a snake most of his life. He has spent most of his adult life thinking mostly of himself with little regard for others. And yet, he stays true to his agreement with God and God stays true to His Word. 

When God had finished explaining His blessing to Israel He went up. 

Israel then set up a stone pillar, or a high rock to mark the place where God had talked with him. It was like he didn’t want to forget it. He poured a drink and oil offering on it to symbolize his abundance. 

Jacob reenters the land and what happens? He leaves behind the Mesopotamian version of himself and he embraces the new humanity version of himself. 

Check in time. 

Isn’t it time we came full circle? 

I venture to say that each one of us has met God at some point in our life. We wouldn’t be sitting in church on a Sunday morning if we hadn’t, we would be playing golf or out to brunch with our friends. Just like Jacob, we have encountered God and had some conversations with Him, maybe even created a bargain or two, just like Jacob. The difference is, we are living this side of the cross. Jesus has died for our sins and has offered us redemption. And through His resurrection, Jesus offers us the same opportunity as Jacob, to  leave behind the Mesopotamian version of ourself and embrace the new humanity version of ourself. Paul writes to the church of Ephesus with this very message,
“The old way has to go. 

Ephesians 4, beginning with verse 17, from The Message, 

And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.

But that’s no life for you. 

You learned Christ! 

My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, 

been well instructed in the truth 

precisely as we have it in Jesus. 

Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—

connected with that old way of life has to go. 

It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! 

And then take on an entirely new way of life—

a God-fashioned life, 

a life renewed from the inside and 

working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

What this adds up to, then, is this: 

no more lies, no more pretense. 

Tell your neighbor the truth. 

In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.

Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—

but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. 

And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. 

Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that 

you can help others who can’t work.

Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. 

His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, 

is the most intimate part of your life, 

making you fit for himself. 

Don’t take such a gift for granted.

Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. 

Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

I encourage you to take these words to heart. 

Do you have any Mesopotamian gods in your life today? Is there anything in your life that gets more attention than your relationship with God? This is a great time to bury them. As we celebrate the freedom provided to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ let us not take this gift for granted. May we refresh our relationship with our risen Savior. 

 

Lord’s Supper.