In Genesis 35 God instructs Jacob to move to Bethel.  The Lord made sure Jacob and his family would make it to Bethel by putting fear into the surrounding cities.  The Lord changes Jacob’s name to Israel and reaffirms the Abrahamic Covenant to him. The Lord also gives Israel another son, Benjamin.  Isaac dies at the end of the chapter.  The thing that sticks out to me this morning is that although Jacob/Israel had failed greatly, the Lord would still be faithful to His promise.  Jacob did not fully obey God when he returned to the land, as seen in the fact he settled near Shechem a very worldly city instead of going immediately back to Bethel (Chapter 33). When faced with sin against his daughter Jacob was passive and shows himself to be Self-Centered when thinking about the consequences of his sons’ actions (Chapter 34).  Yet, with all of this, the Lord would still use Jacob/Israel to carry out His eternal plan of Redemption.  Lord, thank You for never giving up on me, even in my failure and sin.

– Bryan McKenzie

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *