Light and Life for Today

53. Coming Back to God

The story of God's chosen people is a journey of many highs and lows. It's one marked with many realities and subsequent emotions that we can all experience. Having been paralysed by fear that the Canaanites may attack, Jacob listened to God's command to go on to Bethel, 'house of God', that he might resume a life of worship there. He returned to his first love and that was important for his whole family!

"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."

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. 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."

Here we see Jacob leading his family and testifying to them that God had been with him wherever he had gone and had answered him when he was in need. Our testimony to our loved ones is so important!

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.

Jacob's family followed his lead and made themselves right with God by getting rid of everything that linked them to other gods. This demonstrates the tremendous leadership role that men can have within a family and also challenges us to look at our lives and to examine the various influences from the 'gods of this world' which we need to get rid of.

Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

Here we see God's amazing protection of His people! We can be sure that as He leads us, His hand of protection will be around us.

Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Though Jacob had sinned, the important thing was that now he was going to do the right thing. We should never feel we are too far away to come back to God! ("For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."  ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬) He delights in those moments when we come back to Him!

Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth. After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.

Being in the right place, Jacob found great blessing! We can enjoy similar blessing when we are walking on paths God has chosen for us!

God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. " So he named him Israel. And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."

God reminded Jacob of the new name He had given him. We too need to remember we are a new creation in Christ! ("Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"  2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬) God reminded Jacob of the truth of all he had been promised. We can be thankful for the daily reminders we have in the Bible of all the promises that are yes and amen in Jesus!

Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel. Then they moved on from Bethel.

As Jacob poured out a drink offering before God, he was worshipping Him in gratitude. We can also pour out our lives as a sacrificial offering of thanksgiving, worshipping Him with all we have.

While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't despair, for you have another son." As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb.

What a journey Jacob had experienced in his life to this point —love found and now lost as Rachel brought a new life into being at the high cost of her own life. Jacob named his son Benjamin, meaning 'son of my right hand', possibly because he sensed the special place God had for this child. Whatever the reason, he would have great affection for Benjamin, the final link between himself and the woman he loved most of all.

Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.

In a family that had been marked with all kinds of blessings and tragedies, sin continued to mark the lives of various individuals which in turn would bring great distress to Israel. Here we see the eldest son Reuben, falling into temptation.

Jacob had twelve sons: The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel's servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Leah's servant Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him."
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭35:1-29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jacob must have wondered at times whether he would get to see his father again but here we see the blessing that 20 years after leaving his home, Jacob is finally reunited with Isaac. Jacob and Esau were brought together by God's hand a little earlier, ready to be united in the act of burying their father.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

Thank You so much that I can read Your Word and hear You speaking through it. Thank You that the account of Jacob's family is not just a piece of history but through it, Your plans and purposes, provisions and promises are seen so clearly. You are a God who never changes and I thank You that whenever we turn around and seek You with all our heart, we will find You. Yes we will stumble and fall as we see over and over in the lives of Your chosen people, but You don't give up on us. You shower us with blessings and treat us far better than we deserve —Your grace is sufficient for me!

Thank You Jesus for all You have done for me in dying on the cross to make me forever righteous before my Father.
In Your Name I pray,
Amen.

"For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see."
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭36:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬