What Happens When Jacob Becomes Israel.
Memory Verse: 'Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, '
2 Corinthians 6:17
Sermon Sentence: God is drawing you closer to Him and the best decision you can make today is moving towards Him.
2 Corinthians 6:17
Sermon Sentence: God is drawing you closer to Him and the best decision you can make today is moving towards Him.
Day 1
Read Genesis 35:1-15
Jacob lived at home and it was there that he destroyed all of the relationships and opportunities in his family. When he left there, it seemed that there was disarray of all sorts. His parents were surely not on good terms. His brother Esau was certainly not on good terms with his parents. So he moved to where Laban lived, his father-in-law. He gets married…more than once, and therefore there seems to be disarray that is left there as well. He struggles with his father-in-law and their family for years and leaves it in disarray. Now he has changed. Remember that.
When God meets up with him in this current situation, Jacob is in a different place. I think it is safe to say a much better place. So God says he is to go to Bethel. Move there. Get in the U-Haul and move everything and everyone there. Bethel means the house of God and it is the place that God has already met with Jacob once and as you will see in a later devotion, where God has met with Abraham as well. The point is in the image, so don’t pass it by quickly. Jacob needed to move to the place of God. Jacob and his whole family needed to not just go visit Bethel, but set up their lives there. It would be one thing to just go visit Bethel and another thing to have a vacation home in Bethel, but what Jacob needed was to move to the place of God and make that the very depth of everything he did. I think that is an image worth spending some time looking at.
Do you think there is an image that you should see as a metaphor in this text and how would you express what is being said?
How does this apply to your life and what is the takeaway in your life right now?
How does this thought process affect those around you that may not have had the same revelation from God’s word as you?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Jacob lived at home and it was there that he destroyed all of the relationships and opportunities in his family. When he left there, it seemed that there was disarray of all sorts. His parents were surely not on good terms. His brother Esau was certainly not on good terms with his parents. So he moved to where Laban lived, his father-in-law. He gets married…more than once, and therefore there seems to be disarray that is left there as well. He struggles with his father-in-law and their family for years and leaves it in disarray. Now he has changed. Remember that.
When God meets up with him in this current situation, Jacob is in a different place. I think it is safe to say a much better place. So God says he is to go to Bethel. Move there. Get in the U-Haul and move everything and everyone there. Bethel means the house of God and it is the place that God has already met with Jacob once and as you will see in a later devotion, where God has met with Abraham as well. The point is in the image, so don’t pass it by quickly. Jacob needed to move to the place of God. Jacob and his whole family needed to not just go visit Bethel, but set up their lives there. It would be one thing to just go visit Bethel and another thing to have a vacation home in Bethel, but what Jacob needed was to move to the place of God and make that the very depth of everything he did. I think that is an image worth spending some time looking at.
Do you think there is an image that you should see as a metaphor in this text and how would you express what is being said?
How does this apply to your life and what is the takeaway in your life right now?
How does this thought process affect those around you that may not have had the same revelation from God’s word as you?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Genesis 35:1-4; Genesis 12:1-8; Joshua 24:19-27
This may seem like a strange mix of reading, but I really do hope that you caught the connection that links these stories together. You need to have a little bit of knowledge of how the events of the Old Testament happened to follow along, but let me offer some insight here. It all started with Abraham, who was called to leave his home and go where God would show him. This was the beginning of the faith that trusted God and was used to explain what salvation was. We see this covenant happening between God and Abraham, under a certain tree that is mentioned and therefore marked as significant in this story.
By the time we come to the story of Jacob and the change that happened in his life, we get this retelling or revisiting the story in chapter 35 and it is told from the setting that Abraham also started from, that same tree. Here Jacob buries the household gods that have polluted his home and marks his new life in God by taking his family to a place called Bethel and setting up an altar there, near the tree.
Eventually, Joshua is entering into that promised land and therefore is taking the people gathered there that day back through the covenant that they need to remember from old. Wouldn’t you know that the place that happens seems to be an old altar, an old monument, a type of a building that is there and it is known by the Old Oak or Terebinth tree that is right outside of it. It is the same place that Abraham and Jacob had decided to follow God. The language of the two moments are strikingly similar.
(Judges 9 also seems to mention this tree and tell a story, but it is a bit more complicated than the time allotted for this devotion.)
Is there a place that is special for your relationship with God that is solidified in your memory?
What are the pieces of these stories that seem to show up in all three connections that you noticed?
Think back on your legacy of faith in your family, do you see a pattern in the faiths that have followed Jesus lie in these stories?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
This may seem like a strange mix of reading, but I really do hope that you caught the connection that links these stories together. You need to have a little bit of knowledge of how the events of the Old Testament happened to follow along, but let me offer some insight here. It all started with Abraham, who was called to leave his home and go where God would show him. This was the beginning of the faith that trusted God and was used to explain what salvation was. We see this covenant happening between God and Abraham, under a certain tree that is mentioned and therefore marked as significant in this story.
By the time we come to the story of Jacob and the change that happened in his life, we get this retelling or revisiting the story in chapter 35 and it is told from the setting that Abraham also started from, that same tree. Here Jacob buries the household gods that have polluted his home and marks his new life in God by taking his family to a place called Bethel and setting up an altar there, near the tree.
Eventually, Joshua is entering into that promised land and therefore is taking the people gathered there that day back through the covenant that they need to remember from old. Wouldn’t you know that the place that happens seems to be an old altar, an old monument, a type of a building that is there and it is known by the Old Oak or Terebinth tree that is right outside of it. It is the same place that Abraham and Jacob had decided to follow God. The language of the two moments are strikingly similar.
(Judges 9 also seems to mention this tree and tell a story, but it is a bit more complicated than the time allotted for this devotion.)
Is there a place that is special for your relationship with God that is solidified in your memory?
What are the pieces of these stories that seem to show up in all three connections that you noticed?
Think back on your legacy of faith in your family, do you see a pattern in the faiths that have followed Jesus lie in these stories?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 3
Read Ephesians 5:1-21
Walking wisely is a good thing to think about. It is not an exact thing, or a formulaic type of thing, but it is found in the meditations and mulling over of the teachings in the Bible. Unwise walking leads to foolish actions. That seems to be the perspective that Paul is laying out here in this section. He uses a lot of the Bible’s chosen imagery in this text: fruit, light, wise walking, etc. You work through this text and see what you find.
What does Paul mean when he encourages us to not be deceived by “empty words” in verse 6?
How is Paul’s definition of “walking in love” different from our culture’s definition of the same idea?
What are five things that you are thankful for today that you have not thanked God for recently?
How does this become your prayer today?
Walking wisely is a good thing to think about. It is not an exact thing, or a formulaic type of thing, but it is found in the meditations and mulling over of the teachings in the Bible. Unwise walking leads to foolish actions. That seems to be the perspective that Paul is laying out here in this section. He uses a lot of the Bible’s chosen imagery in this text: fruit, light, wise walking, etc. You work through this text and see what you find.
What does Paul mean when he encourages us to not be deceived by “empty words” in verse 6?
How is Paul’s definition of “walking in love” different from our culture’s definition of the same idea?
What are five things that you are thankful for today that you have not thanked God for recently?
How does this become your prayer today?
Day 4
Read 2 Peter 1:1-15
We are talking about making a lasting and total change in our lives this week. That is what Jacob did and it is what Peter seems to be explaining in this text here. This is one of the hundreds of places that we could point to and show that the follower of Jesus lives and thinks differently. The goal is to bring our hearts and our minds in full accord with our calling and decision to follow Jesus.
Peter goes through some practical ideas and says that anyone that lacks these qualities, is actually near sighted and missing the whole picture. Maybe you have experienced vision problems and the adjustments that you make in life when you can not see clearly enough. Soon, after getting glasses or some sort of other corrective work for your vision, the things that you see become much, much more clear. You actually don’t fully get the idea of what you have been missing because you have accommodated the handicap in your vision in so many ways. When it is finally seen, it changes the context of so many things. That is the idea that Peter seems to be playing off of here.
How would you explain “spiritual near sightedness” and its effects on a life to someone else?
How have you experienced this and had to course correct this week?
What are the parts of these verses that stand out to you the most?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
We are talking about making a lasting and total change in our lives this week. That is what Jacob did and it is what Peter seems to be explaining in this text here. This is one of the hundreds of places that we could point to and show that the follower of Jesus lives and thinks differently. The goal is to bring our hearts and our minds in full accord with our calling and decision to follow Jesus.
Peter goes through some practical ideas and says that anyone that lacks these qualities, is actually near sighted and missing the whole picture. Maybe you have experienced vision problems and the adjustments that you make in life when you can not see clearly enough. Soon, after getting glasses or some sort of other corrective work for your vision, the things that you see become much, much more clear. You actually don’t fully get the idea of what you have been missing because you have accommodated the handicap in your vision in so many ways. When it is finally seen, it changes the context of so many things. That is the idea that Peter seems to be playing off of here.
How would you explain “spiritual near sightedness” and its effects on a life to someone else?
How have you experienced this and had to course correct this week?
What are the parts of these verses that stand out to you the most?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read Genesis 34:1-31
Danger! There is not really a moral compass looking to give you direction in this story. In other words, if you are looking for someone to be like in this story, I am afraid you will be disappointed. I think everyone seems to be presented in a poor light. Dinah, the daughter of the one that felt unloved, after meeting the long lost uncle Esau that notoriously ran out to find women that his parents knew were bad news, seems to be on a sort of Rumspringa. Am I saying this was her fault? Nice try, but I am only sorting through the logic of the story in front of me! Hamor was clearly not a good character to hang our moral compass from. The brothers that step in and do this crazy reaction, although they are heroes from being brothers that stand up for their sister, also leave a lot of innocent deaths in their wake. That doesn’t seem good. Then you have Jacob, who does not seem to act as the father that needed to protect his daughter. The bottom line is that this is a weird story. It is just here and no one knows what to do with it really. The closing question does not even get answered and we really don’t know what else happens.
That tracks with how life seems to go sometimes. Not everything makes sense and is a picture perfect story that ties up all the loose ends and delivers to us the ever after ending we hoped for. Sometimes we are left with messes upon messes and no one comes away looking good or wholesome. Here is my conclusion on the matter: This story is for the rest of the Bible. It is a piece of context clue that you will need later on when you are reading about the Hivittes and the Canaanites and wondering why in the world there was all of this bad blood and poor relationships. The goal is not to tell you who’s fault it is, but to remind you of how we get to where we are going.
What are the reactions that you see in this story from each of the characters that you want to call out? Why are they right or wrong?
What do you think the point of this story is? What is the teaching?
How does this become your prayer today?
Danger! There is not really a moral compass looking to give you direction in this story. In other words, if you are looking for someone to be like in this story, I am afraid you will be disappointed. I think everyone seems to be presented in a poor light. Dinah, the daughter of the one that felt unloved, after meeting the long lost uncle Esau that notoriously ran out to find women that his parents knew were bad news, seems to be on a sort of Rumspringa. Am I saying this was her fault? Nice try, but I am only sorting through the logic of the story in front of me! Hamor was clearly not a good character to hang our moral compass from. The brothers that step in and do this crazy reaction, although they are heroes from being brothers that stand up for their sister, also leave a lot of innocent deaths in their wake. That doesn’t seem good. Then you have Jacob, who does not seem to act as the father that needed to protect his daughter. The bottom line is that this is a weird story. It is just here and no one knows what to do with it really. The closing question does not even get answered and we really don’t know what else happens.
That tracks with how life seems to go sometimes. Not everything makes sense and is a picture perfect story that ties up all the loose ends and delivers to us the ever after ending we hoped for. Sometimes we are left with messes upon messes and no one comes away looking good or wholesome. Here is my conclusion on the matter: This story is for the rest of the Bible. It is a piece of context clue that you will need later on when you are reading about the Hivittes and the Canaanites and wondering why in the world there was all of this bad blood and poor relationships. The goal is not to tell you who’s fault it is, but to remind you of how we get to where we are going.
What are the reactions that you see in this story from each of the characters that you want to call out? Why are they right or wrong?
What do you think the point of this story is? What is the teaching?
How does this become your prayer today?
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