The Call to Reformation

Genesis 35:1-4 ESV

1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

I remember when I was considering what I should name my oldest son, that I knew that I wanted to give him a biblical name. Now, I didn’t know really much at all about the Bible at that time, but I did know a few biblical names, and one of the names that I really liked was Jacob. And so, Jacob it was.

But almost two years after my son was born, God saved me, and almost immediately after I was saved, I began to sincerely and seriously study the Bible.

Well, what I found out pretty quickly was that Jacob from the Bible hadn’t always carried the best reputation which initially made me kind of think that perhaps I should have named my son something else. But as I continued to study the Scriptures, I realized that in the end, God ensured that Jacob proved himself to be an exemplary, faithful follower of God.

Jacob started out pretty bad, but God ensured that he finished remarkably well. And for this reason, because of what God had done through Jacob, today I consider Jacob to be one of my favorite people highlighted in the Bible, because the life of Jacob shows how powerfully God can work through someone if God chooses to do so, the latter part of Jacob’s life shows how God graciously gives to His people a new beginning.

And throughout the month of January, the first month of the new year, we are going to be looking at the new beginning that God had graciously given to Jacob as we work through Genesis, chapter 35, verses 1-15.

But before we can talk about the new beginning that God had graciously given to Jacob, in order for us to truly appreciate what God had done through him, we need to look at where Jacob came from, what God had graciously brought him from.

Back in the 25th chapter of the book of Genesis, we read of the birth of Jacob. He was the son of the patriarch Isaac and his wife, Rebekah. But when Jacob was born, he was not born alone; he had a twin brother, Esau.

Now, before these twin boys were born, God revealed to Rebekah that there were two nations in her womb, and that the older son would serve the younger son.

In fact, Paul tells us over in the 9th chapter of the book of Romans that before these boys were ever born and therefore before they had ever done anything good or bad, God had already declared then, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Thus, when the boys were born, the first to be delivered was Esau, but as Esau was being delivered, it was noted that his brother was holding his heel, thus this younger of the two twins was named Jacob, which means, “He takes by the heel” but it also means, “He cheats” … something that will ring true throughout the first half of Jacob’s life.

We see this pretty early on when Jacob cheats Esau out of his birthright, convincing him to exchange it for a bowl of soup. We then read of the infamous narrative where Jacob disguises as his brother, Esau, in order to trick his blind, elderly father into blessing him instead of Esau.

After stealing his brother’s blessing, Jacob fled from his angry, vengeful brother and headed eastward to his mother’s brother, his uncle Laban’s home.

As Jacob fled to his mother’s homeland, he encountered the God of his fathers, Who swore to be with him and to give him that which He had promised to give to both Isaac and Abraham.

Being so moved by this experience and by the presence of God, Jacob named that place, Bethel, which means, “House of God”. And as he was there, Jacob swore that if God would be faithful to bring him back to his father’s house in peace, that He then would be his God, and he would build an altar and wholeheartedly worship God in the very place that He had revealed Himself to Jacob.

Eventually, Jacob made it to Laban’s house, and there he married both of Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel and had 12 sons between both they and their handmaids.

But old Uncle Laban began to take advantage of Jacob, and thus Jacob left his mother’s homeland after remaining there for over 20 years, and he headed back to his father’s house.

But on his way back home, he encountered his brother, Esau, the one whom he had originally been running from. But after some divine intervention, Esau not only refrained from enacting vengeance against Jacob, but he even extended an invitation for both Jacob and his entire household to live among him in his own country, Seir.

But Jacob was wary of his brother, thinking that he could change his feelings toward him at any time, thus he fled in the opposite direction of where Esau lived.

But after that there was another dilemma that Jacob had found himself in when his daughter, Dinah had been defiled by a prince of the Shechemites and his sons Levi and Simeon placed the Shechemites in a compromising situation, convincing every man of Shechem to circumcise themselves.

But while these Shechemites were still recovering and in pain from their circumcision, Levi and Simeon killed every one of these Shechemites and destroyed their city.

After that was all said and done, Jacob knew that those from the surrounding nations will be seeking to destroy both he and his household.

So, at the point in time when this narrative in chapter 35 takes place, Jacob found himself with enemies on all sides with seemingly nowhere to go.

But that was when God showed up and told Jacob that there was one place that he could go to and be safe, and that was to God Himself.

We see this in the first verse of our reading, where it says:

Genesis 35:1 ESV

1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

His whole life, Jacob had been running. Running from Esau, running from his uncle Laban, running from the Canaanites, and now God tells him, “Run to Me.”

Like I had said earlier, back in the 28thchapter of Genesis we read of how Jacob had been running from his brother when God appeared to him at the place that Jacob named Bethel, House of God. And Jacob told God that if He would bring him back to that place, he would build an altar to the God of his fathers and that He too would be Jacob’s God.

Well, here in our reading, God calls to Jacob, and He commands him to return to Bethel and to build an altar to Him and commit himself to God as he had sworn beforehand.

What God had done was charge Jacob to make a fresh start, a new beginning where He would be his God and where Jacob would depend on Him and not himself from that point forward.

Jacob heeded to this call and set out to follow the Lord, but at this he recognized that it wasn’t just he who needed to make a fresh start, his whole household needed this fresh start as well. We see this in the second verse of our reading, where it says:

Genesis 35:2 ESV

2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.

At hearing the call of the Lord, Jacob called his household to follow the Lord as well. And as he called them it caused him to truly recognize the great sin that his household had committed in worshipping foreign gods.

Now, obviously Jacob was aware that many of those in his household worshipped these gods, yet up to this point he hadn’t felt moved enough to really do anything about it. But now that God had appeared to him, he saw how awesome God is and how weak and small he is, and therefore he knew that an absolute reformation was in order.

And because he knew that this complete reformation was in order, he now commands his household to put away their foreign gods.

What this putting away entails is both discarding their idols and ceasing to worship the gods that they had been worshipping.

And when he calls them to purify themselves, it is a call to exchange their worship of false, worthless gods for the worship of Jehovah, the God of gods.

And the last thing that Jacob calls them to in this verse is to change their garments. This change of garments would symbolize their new devotion to God as they approach He Who is holy with new, clean garments.

Then in verse 3, Jacob gives the charge to his household to appear before the God of heaven and earth and makes the great confession to the power and the goodness of God, where we read Jacob saying to his household:

Genesis 35:3 ESV

3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

Here we see Jacob telling his household that once they had put away their gods and changed their garments, they were to rise up, and go to meet God at Bethel, the house of God.

And here, Jacob makes plain to his household what he plans to do when he reaches Bethel when he says that he goes there to make an altar.

Now, when one would say in ancient times that they were making an altar, what that meant was that they were going to make, usually out of stone, a structure in which one could present offerings and make sacrifices to a god, and thus worship their god.

So, we see here that Jacob makes it very plain to his household that not only he, but that they too were going to put away their gods and instead worship the God of heaven and earth.

But that wasn’t all that Jacob had to say about God to his household, for Jacob says that this God is “the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

This was the great confession of faith! Jacob said that though he has been through so much difficulty in his life, through one difficult situation after another, and though he had even fought against the Lord and had lived his entire life up to this point seeking to serve himself and not God, God had nonetheless been with him, loving him, causing him to overcome, always answering him when he would cry out in distress.

As Jacob looked back on his life, seeing how God had constantly delivered him, and especially as he saw that God had brought him back home just like He promised He would, Jacob knew that loving, serving, worshipping this God was the only thing that he and his household were to do.

Therefore, when the household of Jacob saw his own reformation, they too were moved to be reformed themselves. We see this in verse 4 of our reading, where it says:

Genesis 35:4 ESV

4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

Because the household of Jacob had saw what God had done through Jacob, and because they heard in Jacob’s call, the voice of God, the call of God Himself, they too came to the Lord and followed Him alone.

They willingly gave to Jacob all of the idols that they had possessed, and Jacob put them away as he buried them under a tree, laying them to rest, as from that point forward, the worship of foreign gods would no longer be found in Jacob’s household.

Beloved, this causes me to wonder if God is calling usto Bethel? Is God calling this very congregation to deeper, more meaningful reform? Has He summoned us to a greater commitment to Him? Has He called us to a holier worship of Him? Is He calling us here at Bethany Cumberland Presbyterian Church to be a light in a dark world? An oasis for Reformed biblical Christianity in a deserted land?

Beloved, let us all answer that call!

Amen?