Journal Through the Bible: Week 9 Saturday

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Genesis 35:1-29

Beginnings and endings. Births and deaths.

God requires Jacob to return to Bethel, the place of his conversion. Perhaps Jacob needed to have the joy of his salvation restored to him after the heartache involving Shechem. There were idols to be dealt with also.

This chapter relates the birth of Benjamin. And it tells of the death of the nurse Deborah and that of Rachel, and Isaac.

Does God make any promises in this chapter?

God met with Jacob again and reminded him that his name was no longer Jacob, but Israel. He reminded him that his descendants would be a great nation and would possess the land promised to Abraham and Isaac. He also would have kings as his descendants.

Are there any references to Jesus?

Just as the stench of the dealings with Shechem caused Jacob and his family to leave all their idols buried under a tree near that city when God called them away so do we leave our own sinfulness at the foot of the cross when we are called by God to return to the place of our salvation. (Don't misunderstand what I am saying. Jacob was already a child of God and had been for many years, but circumstances had taken him down a sinful path. He needed to confess and then return to the place of his conversion as a reminder of his relationship with God. Christians sometimes must grab hold of the promise found in I John 1:9!)

Verse 13 says that God went up from Jacob when they were finished talking. This might suggest a bodily presence. 

Are there any references to End Time events or eternity?

Israel's descendants are still awaiting the time when they will fully inherit all the land that God promised them.

Does God issue any commands?

• Verse 1 - He told Jacob to return to Bethel, the place where God first appeared to him when he fled from Esau.
• Verse 11 - While giving the promise, God also told Jacob to be fruitful and multiply. All of Jacob's children except Benjamin were born by this time so this was meant for Jacob's family, too.