Genesis 35
1 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."
2 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. 3Then 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." 4 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. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 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.
8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named AllonBakuth.
9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 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.
11 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. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you." 13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.
14 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. 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.
ROOT – RID OF ALL -
1 - Where Did God Appear to You? – Call to worship
2 , 4– Get ready to worship
3 – Understand why we worship
5 – Protection around worship
REVERE = WORSHIP
6 , 7 – Worship – John 4:24, Hebrews 12:28
8 – SERVANT – focus at a funeral -
9-13 – REMINDS US - God reminds us
9 – God does the blessing not based on something we have done – John 1:13
10 – Reminds of us of who WE are and what He has called us (REDEDICATION) – Ephesians 4:24 and
11 – Reminds us of who HE is want what we will do in response – Genesis 17:1, 49:25, Psalms 132:2, 5, Deuteronomy 10:17
•
He is the Almighty (Genesis 49:25)
•
the Creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:19)
•
Builder of everything (Hebrews 3:4)
•
the King of heaven (Daniel 4:37)
•
God of all mankind (Jeremiah 32:27)
•
and the Eternal King. (Jeremiah 10:10)
•
He is the only God (Jude 1:25)
•
the Eternal God (Genesis 21:33)
•
the Everlasting God (Isaiah 40:28)
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and Maker of all things (Ecclesiastes 11:5)
•
He is able to do more things than we can ask
or even imagine (Ephesians 3:20)
•
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed and miracles that cannot be counted (Job 9:10)
•
God’s power is unlimited. He can do anything He wants, whenever He wants (Psalm 115:3)
•
He spoke the Universe into existence (Genesis 1:3)
12 – Reminds us of the witnesses that go before us– lineage – show map
13 – Reminds us that He does the closing of the conversation - He answers to no one as to His plans and purposes: “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’"(Daniel 4:35).
14-15 – Rinse and repeat
1 corinthians 10:31, romans 6:11-12
READ - Psalm 40 – 10-31
10
See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
12
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
13
Who can fathom the Spirit[d] of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
14
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?
15
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16
Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17
Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
18
With whom, then, will you compare God?
To what image will you liken him?
19
As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
20
A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol that will not topple.
21
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23
He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25
“To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27
Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29
He gives strength to the weary
andincreases the power of the weak.
30
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
1-3 – Why we dress up at church
Question: "Why do we have to dress up nice for church?"
Answer: It is good for us to ponder why we wear what we do. Genesis 35:1-3 may shed some light on the subject. "Then God said to Jacob, 'Go up to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to honor Me. That's where I appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.' So Jacob spoke to his family and to everyone who was with him. He said, 'Get rid of the strange gods you have with you. Make yourselves pure, and change your clothes. Come, let's go up to Bethel. There I'll build an altar to honor God. He answered me when I was in trouble. He's been with me everywhere I've gone.'"
It is possible that as Jacob began this faith-journey to Bethel with God, he recognized how much God had done for him, and how much he needed God! His response was to take everyone with him on this faith-journey, so they could experience God for themselves. "Get rid of the strange gods you have with you. Make yourselves pure" implies the need to be united in "coming clean" before God. "For all have sinned..."(Romans 3:23). Many then had "household idols" with them that they depended on, as well as God. They did not trust God alone. "Change your clothes" implies a change of heart toward sin. It was to be a reflection of what had taken place on the "inside."
We would all benefit from a "spiritual bath" to confess and get rid of sin before we go to church. This is making ourselves pure. For some people, clean is their "best." For others, their heart tells them that wearing their best is showing God His value to them. For still others, there needs to be a caution that their best isn't merely showing off.
It is always the heart God is looking at, rather than the exterior. However, what we wear to worship our holy, pure God may be an indication of where our hearts are. If you have never considered it before, ask yourself, "Does it matter to me how I look when I am going to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? More importantly, does it matter to Him?" We must all be thejudge of that for ourselves. It's a personal choice, keeping in mind that having a proper attitude toward God Himself is important preparation for worship at church.
Question: "What should be the focus of a Christian funeral?"
Answer: There should be a vast difference between a Christian funeral and that of a non-believer. It is the difference between light and darkness, joy and sorrow, hope and despair, heaven and hell. A Christian funeral should, first and foremost, reflect the words of the Apostle Paul: “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Paul uses the euphemism “fall asleep” to refer to those who have died in Christ. The grief of the relatives of an unsaved person is not to be compared with that of those whose loved one died knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We grieve in a completely different way because we know we will see them again. The unsaved have no such hope, so their despair is complete and unrelenting.
Perhaps no other event in life brings us as close to the reality of eternity as death. One moment our loved one is here—breathing, communicating, heart beating—and the next moment he is gone. Even though the body remains, anyone who has been present at the moment of death knows that body is empty and the person who once inhabited it has left. If the deceased was a Christian, it is the knowledge of his destination that gives us the hope that unbelievers simply cannot experience. That hope should be the focus of a Christian funeral. The message of that hope should be clearly proclaimed, whether by formal preaching of the gospel of Christ or by memorials by those who knew the deceased and can testify that he/she lived in the light of the hope of eternal life available in Christ. If music is to be part of the funeral, it too should reflect the joy and hope being experienced at that very moment by the departed soul.
Above all, a Christian funeral should provide a glimpse into that brighter world, a world where all Christians will be reunited, where the bonds of love shall be made stronger than they were here, never again to be severed. It is only this hope that can soothe the pains of grief at parting. It is only when we can look forward to a better world, knowing we will see our loved ones again, love them again, and enjoy worshipping God with them forever that our tears are made dry. A Christian funeral should be a celebration of the joy of these glorious truths.
Question: "What does it mean that God is Almighty?"
Answer: In Hebrew, the title "God Almighty" is written as El Shaddai and probably means “God, the All-powerful One” or “The Mighty One of Jacob” (Genesis 49:24; Psalm 132:2,5), although there is a question among most Bible scholars as to its precise meaning. The title speaks to God’s ultimate power over all. He has all might and power. We are first introduced to this name in Genesis 17:1, when God appeared to Abram and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.”
God has many names and attributes. He is the Almighty (Genesis 49:25), the Creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:19), Builder of everything (Hebrews 3:4), the King of heaven (Daniel 4:37), God of all mankind (Jeremiah 32:27), and the Eternal King. (Jeremiah 10:10). He is the only God (Jude 1:25), the Eternal God (Genesis 21:33), the Everlasting God (Isaiah 40:28), and Maker of all things (Ecclesiastes 11:5). He is able to do more things than we can ask or even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed and miracles that cannot be counted (Job 9:10). God’s power is unlimited. He can do anything He wants, whenever He wants (Psalm 115:3). He spoke the Universe into existence (Genesis 1:3). Furthermore, He answers to no one as to His plans and purposes: “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’" (Daniel 4:35).
When we see God as the Almighty, we are struck by His power and by the fact that He is indeed a great, mighty, and awesome God (Deuteronomy 10:17). The identity of God as Almighty serves to establish the sense of awe and wonder we have toward Him and the realization that He is God above all things without limitation. This is important in view of how He is described next in the Bible. In Exodus 6:2-3, God said to Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” How is this significant? It is significant because God, whom we previously knew only as God Almighty, has now given a new, more personal and intimate name to Moses (and Israel). This desire on God’s part for a more personal relationship with mankind would culminate later when God Almighty sent His only Son to earth--God in flesh--to die on the cross so that a way for forgiveness of our sins could be provided. The fact that God Almighty would humble Himself in this way for us makes His name all the more remarkable.
Bethel –
A town on the great N-S watershed road of Pal. twelve m. N of Jerusalem designated as the modern village ofBeitin. The Heb. name, Bethel, has been preserved in the Arab. “Beitin” by the normal shift of consonants. The presence of excellent springs of water near the top of the ridge of hills made the site desirable from early days. Bethel also occupied a key point on the E-W route from Trans-Jordan W by way of Jericho to the Mediterranean either by way of the Valley of Ajalon or via Gophna to the Plain of Sharon and the sea. These circumstances are a partial explanation for the fact that Bethel is mentioned in Scripture more often than any city except Jerusalem. The bare mountain top at Bethel served as a worship center through the millennia. The Canaanite deity El gave his name to this site. The god Baal, who normally replaced El in the Canaanite pantheon, was unable to dislodge the name of El in Bethel. So this location continued to be known as Bethel, serving as a worship center for nomads. Even Abraham ( Gen 12:8 ) and Jacob ( 28:19 ) used the name Bethel. Another name for the site in the time of the patriarchs according to Genesis 28:19 was Luz. This name may be derived from Laudh meaning “place of refuge.” When Jacob reached the site on his way toPadan-aram, the Genesis account says “he came to a certain [Holy] place” ( 28:11 ). Bethel originally may have been the sanctuary on the ridge E of the town, whereas the town itself may have been designated as “Luz.” Genesis 28:19 speaks of Bethel as a maqom , a “sanctuary place,” and Luz as an ir , “town.” In the boundary descriptions of Ephraim and Benjamin in Joshua 16:2 Bethel and Luz are mentioned as adjacent sites.
The earliest archeological evidence for the occupation of the high place at Bethel is a chalcolithic water jar from 3500 b.c. The lack of structures dating from that period suggests that Bethel was an open-air sanctuary in that age. During the late chalcolithic period (c. 3200b.c. ) Bethel was occupied, as indicated by ceramic evidence found around the high place and S of the sanctuary area. Ai then replaced Bethel as the major town of the area. A second occupation of Bethel was about 2400-2200 b.c. Later that town was abandoned and not reoccupied until the 19th cent. This marked the beginning of an almost continuous occupation of the site. A temple was built immediately above the high place and a town was constructed S of it. A strong defensive wall system may not have been constructed until the 18th or 17th centuries. It was early in this Middle Bronze period that the accounts of the patriarchs as presented in Genesis fit well into the archeological history of Bethel. The quality of the architectural evidence indicates that Abraham and Jacob found a well-developed town when they visited the site. While Jacob might think of the town as Luz, a place where he could find refuge from his twin brother Esau as he fled toward the E, the Genesis account also reports that Jacob played on the generic name for God which was El. He set up a stone, poured oil upon it, and called the name of the place, “house of God,” Bethel, for God had spoken to him in a dream the night before ( Gen 28:1-22 ). The Canaanite might mean one thing by the name, Bethel, but Jacob meant another. To him the spot was not only the house of God but “this is the gate of heaven” ( 28:17 ). Jacob revisited Bethel and renewed his covenant with God on his return fromPadan-aram. The absence of Late Bronze I material at Bethel suggests that the site was destroyed about 1550b.c. by the Egyp. drive against the Hyksos who were thrown out of Egypt and Pal. In the Late Bronze II period (14th and 13th centuries) the city was rebuilt and extended. The quality of the houses was superior to those of the earlier periods. A sewer system, the only one the town ever had, was constructed in this era. The only industry located by the archeologists was an olive oil press. The plentiful evidence of burning which indicates the end of this period in the history of the site suggests that the city was prosperous when the Israelites invaded the region. While both Jericho and Ai present problems relating to the conquest of Joshua, breached walls, ash and brick debris to the depth of 1.75 meters and destroyed houses witness to the destruction of Bethel in the 13th cent. b.c., c. 1240-1235 b.c. Captured by Joshua ( Josh 8:7 ) the town was allotted to Benjamin. After the civil war against Benjamin the town became a part of Ephraim. It was on the border between the two tribes. The importance of Bethel is revealed in the Judges passage ( 21:19 ) which speaks of a “Bethel to Shechem” highway and locates Shiloh as a site which is N of Bethel. The Ark which was the center of Israel’s life was located at Bethel for a period of time right after the conquest. The divine oracle was consulted at Bethel ( Judg 20:18 ) and Deborah, the prophetess, lived near Bethel ( Judg 4:5 ). Samuel made Bethel one of the locations of his court as he moved around the circuit judging Israel ( 1 Sam 7:16 ). While Bethel is not mentioned by name in the OT under either David or Solomon, archeological evidence shows that the city was prosperous in that period. Building arts improved, pottery art took on new techniques and forms, and the Israelite control of iron created new opportunities in agriculture.
Jeroboam I established Bethel as the chief sanctuary of Israel as a rival to Jerusalem in Judah ( 1 Kings 12:26-33 ). During the time of the divided kingdom the fortunes of Bethel rose and fell with the tides of the struggle between the northern and southern kingdoms. The accounts in 1 Kings 12:29 - 16:34 ; 2 Kings 2:2 - 23:19 ; and 2 Chronicles 13:19 tell of this fluctuation in prominence. Jeroboam II made Bethel a royal sanctuary in the northern kingdom and the shrine was restored to its earlier importance. The archeologists did not find Jeroboam’s temple which is prob. under the modern village of Beitin. They did find the seal with which the incense bags were marked. The incense was used in the temple ritual. The seal dates to shortly after the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Pal. In the days of Elijah and Elisha a school of the prophets flourished in Bethel ( 2Kings 2:2 , 3 ). Not all the younger generation in the Bethel area had respect for the prophets, however, for the young boys jeered at Elisha ( 2 Kings 2:23 , 24 ). Following the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians, Bethel also suffered destruction. The shrine was revived later so as to offer a religious center for the imported populations settled in the area by the Assyrians ( 2Kings 17:27-33 ). When Josiah moved N after the fall of Assyria he did not destroy Bethel, only its temple; nor was the town destroyed by the Babylonians in 587b.c. when they destroyed Jerusalem. Bethel was evidently regarded as a part of the administrative region of Samaria and therefore was not in revolt against Judah. The presence of Babylonian colonists in the Samarian region is noted in 2 Kings 17:24 , 30 . Bethel was destroyed by a great fire either in 553 b.c. or 521b.c. This destruction may have been the work ofNabonidus of Babylon or of the Persians in the period just before Darius.
During the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, Bethel was a village of a few crude walls built from material taken from the old city wall. The census records under both Ezra and Nehemiah show that Bethel had only a small population ( Ezra 2:28 ). Bethel is listed as the northernmost town of the Benjamites ( Neh 12:31 ff.). There is no mention made of the involvement of the people of Bethel in the rebuilding of Jerusalem.Literary references to Bethel in the early Hel. period are missing. Archeological evidence, however, clearly supports the fact that good houses, quality pottery and thriving trade marked the period immediately prior to the Maccabean era. In 1 Maccabees 9:50 and the Antiquities of Josephus, XIII. i. 3, reference is made to the fact that Bethel was one of the towns fortified byBacchides. The city flourished under the Maccabees, with houses even outside the city walls. In the early Rom. period either Pompey or Vespasian broke down the NE gate and leveled part of the N wall. No other evidence of destruction has been noted but Rom. construction took place, a house being built over the leveled N wall. There is no specific reference to Bethel in the NT, but Christ must have gone through the city on His trips since it is on the main road from Shechemto Jerusalem. The town increased in population in the 1st cent. a.d. Vespasian captured Bethel just before he left Pal. to become emperor of Rome. Josephus (Wars. IV. ix. 9) mentions that Vespasian established a Rom. garrison at Bethel. So great was the increase of population at Bethel in this period that cisterns were introduced for the first time. The four springs had been adequate for the population until the Rom. occupation. The authorities found it necessary to build large community cisterns close to the largest spring so that they could be filled in the winter. Eusebius refers to Bethel as a large village in the 4th cent. a.d. It continued to be a holy place. On a ridge E of Bethel, an important Byzantine church was built, perhaps marking an identification of the locale of Jacob’s dream. Another church was built about the 6th cent. This sought to commemorate the site of Abraham’s sanctuary. Near the great spring within the city a third Byzantine church was constructed with possible related monastic structures. Meanwhile about a.d. 500 Bethel erected a new city wall as a defense against the current Samaritan revolts. The city reached its greatest extent and prosperity in the Byzantine period. Only a little Islamic material was found. No explanation for the sudden disappearance of the city is known. The site was unoccupied until about a cent. ago. SeeARCHEOLOGY .
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