Sermon Tone Analysis

Tuesday October 3, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 35:2-8-Jacob Obeys God’s Command to Return to Bethel and the Death of Deborah

Lesson # 215

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 35:1.

On Sunday we studied Genesis 35:1, which gives us the record of God commanding Jacob to go up to Bethel and fulfill his vow to make an altar to worship Him there.

This evening we will study Genesis 35:2-7, which records Jacob obeying God’s command to return to Bethel and build an altar to Him there in fulfillment of the vow he made to God thirty years before.

We will also note Genesis 35:8, which records the death of Deborah who was Rebekah’s nurse.

Genesis 35:1, “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’”

Genesis 35:2-3, “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.’”

In preparation for his trip to Bethel, Jacob exercises his patriarchal and spiritual authority over his household by purging it of idolatry, which led to the massacre of the city of Shechem by Jacob’s sons.

“Put away” is the 2nd person masculine plural hiphil imperative form of the verb sur (rWs) (soor), which means, “to remove” the foreign gods that were being used by the members of Jacob’s household.

“The foreign gods” are a reference to the teraphim, “household idols,” which were small idols like figurines and were considered the family gods, which gave the family protection and were kept on a god-shelf and were outlawed in Israel (See 1 Samuel 15:23; 19:13; 2 Kings 23:24; Zechariah 10:2f.).

These gods were usually small figurines (two to three inches long), sometimes carried on the body as charms, many of which archaeologists have discovered.

These “foreign gods” were acquired as part of the spoils of Shechem and were undoubtedly used by the women of Shechem.

Also, they were used by the members of Jacob’s own household as indicated by the masculine plural form of the verb sur, which means “all of you remove” the foreign gods indicating that the command is directed towards Jacob’s own household.

It appears that the bad decision by Jacob to settle at Shechem not only resulted in the rape of his daughter Dinah and the massacre of the city of Shechem by his sons but it also appears to have exposed Jacob’s own sons to the idols of the Shechemites.

The fact that Jacob’s sons were influenced by the idolatrous practices of the Shechemites helps us to understand the reason why later on Israel’s history the Lord commanded the Israelites to exterminate the Hittites, the Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites since these nations would be a bad influence on them, leading them away from the worship of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 20:17-18, “But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the LORD your God.”

Idols open the door for demonic activity and the massacre carried out by Simeon and Levi would show the presence of demons.

This does not excuse the behavior of the boys, but it makes it more plausible.

Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20 teach that the worship of idols is connected to the worship of demons since the sacrificing to idols is in reality sacrificing to demons who promote the worship of idols.

Deuteronomy 32:17, “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread.”

1 Corinthians 10:20, “No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.”

Therefore, it appears that Jacob’s sons and in particular Simeon and Levi were demonically influenced, which resulted in their brutally killing all the men of the city of Shechem as well as Hamor and his son Shechem.

Again, this does “not” excuse their actions since they chose to be involved in the worship of idols, which opened them to demonic influence.

Demonic “influence” has to do with demons influencing the human soul whereas demon “possession” has to do with demons indwelling the human body.

The latter of which can only take place in an unbeliever since demons will never indwell the body of a believer since the believer’s body is permanently indwelt by all three members of the Trinity (See Ephesians 4:5, Colossians 1:27, Romans 8:11).

Simeon and Levi were demonically “influenced” and not “possessed” since they were believers.

Idolatry is the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself.

Scores of references to idolatry appear in the Old Testament.

Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Exodus 20:23, “You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.”

Joshua 24:2 states that Abraham’s father served idols.

Joshua 24:2, “Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.’”

The most noteworthy instance of idolatry in the history of Israel was Aaron’s making of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex 32:1-4).

Idolatry originally meant the worship of idols, or the worship of false gods by means of idols, but came to mean among the Old Testament Hebrews any worship of false gods, whether by images or otherwise or the worship of the Lord through visible symbols (Hos 8:5-6; 10:5).

Hosea 8:5-6, “He has rejected your calf, O Samaria, saying, ‘My anger burns against them!’

How long will they be incapable of innocence?

For from Israel is even this!

A craftsman made it, so it is not God; Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.”

Hosea 10:5, “The inhabitants of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven.

Indeed, its people will mourn for it, and its idolatrous priests will cry out over it, over its glory, since it has departed from it.”

Idolatry is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).

Ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).

1 Corinthians 10:14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

1 John 5:21, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”

Galatians 5:19-20, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions.”

Colossians 3:5, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

1 Peter 4:3, “For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”

Genesis 35:2-3, “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.’”

The command “remove the foreign gods, which are among you” means that Jacob’s household must not only get back in fellowship with the Lord, which was lost due to the practice of idolatry but they are to be dedicated and devoted to the Lord by being obedient to Him (See Joshua 24:14, 23; Judges 10:16; 1 Samuel 7:3-4; 2 Chronicles 33:15).

The command to “purify yourselves” involves the confession of the sin of idolatry to the Father as well as experiential sanctification, which is accomplished by obedience to the Word of God.

1 John 1:9, “If any of us does at any time confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from each and every wrongdoing.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”

Without the confession of sin and subsequent obedience to God’s Word, sanctification can “not” be experienced by the believer.

“Sanctification” is a technical theological term for the believer who has been “set apart” through the Baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation “in order to serve God exclusively” and describes the process of producing the holiness of God in the believer.

In Old Testament Israel and with the patriarchs there were purification rituals, which symbolized the confession of sin and obedience to God and included the bathing of the body, washing clothes and abstaining from sexual intercourse (See Leviticus 14:8-9; 22:6-7; Numbers 8:7).

These purification rituals symbolized the rejection of idolatry and serving God exclusively (See Deuteronomy 7:25-26; Jeremiah 2:23; 7:30).

Genesis 35:2-3, “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.’”

The command “change your garments” symbolized the change of state by the soul of the believer from a life of disobedience to obedience as well as a life dedicated and devoted to God by means of the rejection of idolatry and obedience to His Word.

Ephesians 4:22-24, “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

The command “let arise and go up to Bethel and I will make an altar there to God” expresses Jacob’s desire and intention to obey God’s command recorded in Genesis 35:1 and fulfill his vow to build an altar there to worship the Lord.

“God” is not the usual Elohim but rather the singular form of the noun, which is El (la@) in order to express a contrast between the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is the one and only true God and the foreign gods of the Canaanites.

Obedience to God’s command to return to Bethel would take great courage on the part of Jacob and his family since they would be traveling through potentially hostile territory as a result of the massacre of Shechem by Jacob’s sons.

“The day of my distress” is a reference to the day Jacob left his father and mother thirty years before as a result of Esau threatening to kill him because he deceived their father into bestowing the blessing of the birthright upon him rather than Esau.

“God who…has been with me wherever I have gone” is an acknowledgement by Jacob that God has been faithful to him by fulfilling His promise that He made to him at Bethel thirty years before to be with him, which is recorded in Genesis 28:15.

Genesis 35:4, “So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.”

Jacob’s family and those outside of his immediately family respond to the exercise of his patriarchal and spiritual authority by handing over their foreign gods to him to dispose of them.

The earrings were given to Jacob because they too were connected with the idolatrous practice of worshipping idols.

“Hid” is the verb taman (/m^f*), which means, “to hide an object so that it cannot be found,” thus Jacob hid these teraphim and earrings so that they could not be found so as to be used again by the Israelites.

“The oak that was near Shechem” is a reference to “the oak of Moreh” in Shechem where the Lord first appeared to Abraham when he arrived from Haran and was a well-known pagan site of worship in the days of the patriarchs (See Genesis 12:6-9).

Genesis 35:5, “As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.”

“Great terror” is mistranslated and should be translated “the terror of God” since the Hebrew text contains the noun chittah (hT*t!) (khit-taw), “terror” and the noun Elohim (<yh!+Oa$), “God.”

Therefore, the terror experienced by the inhabitants that surrounded Jacob’s family was a terror produced by God and prevented the surrounding cities from attacking Jacob’s family.

The fact that God had to intervene to protect Jacob’s family indicates quite clearly that the cities surrounding Shechem wanted to destroy Jacob’s family when they heard that Shechem had been massacred by Jacob’s sons.

The fact that Jacob’s family was influenced by the kingdom of darkness by being exposed to the idolatrous practices of the Canaanites and that God had to intervene to protect Jacob’s family from the cities surrounding Shechem indicates that Satan was seeking to destroy Jacob’s family.

Satan was seeking to destroy Jacob’s family since they were the progenitors of the nation of Israel, from which Christ would come who would destroy the works of the devil and would fulfill the Abrahamic and Palestinian covenants and would rule for a thousand years in Jerusalem with Israel as head of the nations.

Genesis 35:6, “So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.”

Genesis 35:6 records Jacob obeying God’s command and arriving back in Bethel, which was only thirty miles away from Shechem.

The fact that God had induced a panic upon the cities surrounding Shechem and that Jacob had arrived with his entire family safely in the land of Canaan and back in Bethel was fulfillment of the Lord’s promises to Jacob at Bethel thirty years before to be with him and bring him back to Canaan (See Genesis 28:15-21).

Genesis 28:15, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Genesis 35:7, “He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother.”

The statement “he (Jacob) built an altar there (at Bethel)” reveals that Jacob fulfilled his vow to build an altar at Bethel to worship the Lord when the Lord brought him back to Canaan (See Genesis 28:22).

Genesis 28:22a, “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house.”

“God’s house” is a reference to both the altar and the place the Lord appeared to Jacob when he fled thirty years before from his brother Esau.

The altar memorializes that God revealed Himself to Jacob at Bethel when he was fleeing his brother Esau thirty years before, which is expressed by the name “El-bethel.”

Genesis 35:8, “Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.”

Deborah’s name means, “honeybee” and she is described as Rebekah’s nurse.

The fact that Deborah’s name is mentioned indicates how highly regarded she was not only by the family of Jacob but also by God the Holy Spirit who inspired Moses to memorialize her death.

That she was highly regarded and revered by Jacob’s family is indicated by naming the oak tree, which they buried her under as “Allon-bacuth,” which means, “the oak of weeping.”

The fact that Deborah’s death is recorded and not Rebekah’s is a rebuke of Rebekah indicating God’s displeasure with her ordering Jacob to deceive her blind husband Isaac into bestowing the blessing of the birthright upon Jacob rather than Esau.

Jacob had known Deborah is entire life.

She had come with Rebekah from Paddan Aram when Rebekah left to marry Isaac (See Genesis 24:59) and she took care of Jacob like a nanny.

Of course, she did not go with Jacob when he fled Esau.

The fact that Deborah is recorded in Genesis 35:8 as being a member of Jacob’s household clearly indicates that Jacob visited his father while he was living in Shechem and demonstrates proof that Rebekah was dead at this time.

More than likely, when Jacob returned to visit his father at Hebron and found that his mother was dead, and that Deborah was not really needed, he urged Deborah to join his household to serve as a “senior advisor” to his servants as well as a surrogate grandmother to his children.