All right, we'll invite you to Genesis 35 this morning, and if we, if I can, I would like to do a little bit of real quick background just to remind us of, how did we get here? So, if we can. Last time, I failed to mention this, but in Genesis 34, you remember the tragedy takes place, and Simeon and Levi step up and defend their sister's honor. And I mentioned that there were consequences. And if we were, and I typed it in here for us so we don't need to turn there right now, but in Genesis 49, Jacob is coming to the end of his earthly life and he goes through each of his kids and he gives them, if you will, a bit of prophecy concerning each of those tribes. And in this section, chapter 49, verses five through seven, he says this, that Simeon and Levi are brothers. Now, he already knew that, and they know that, right? But it's just, it helps us to remember this. Their swords are implements of violence. Remember that from last couple weeks? He says, let not my soul enter into their counsel. In other words, I'm not gonna take advice from Simeon and Levi. Now as you get older, make sure I added er on the end of that, but as we get older, our relationship with our children change, right? In the sense that we now interact with them as adults, And we go to them sometimes for advice. We take their input on things. They ask our input on things. Sometimes we take their advice and sometimes we don't, right? Just like they do with us. Sometimes they call us or text us and say, hey dad, what do you think about? And you give your input and they go, hmm, okay. And sometimes they take that advice, sometimes they don't, right? It's not wrong, but they're seeking counsel from their parents. Sometimes we seek counsel from our children. Jacob says, ain't gonna do that with Simeon and Levi. That'd be heartbreaking. Let not my soul enter into their counsel. Let not my glory be united with their assembly, because in their anger they killed men. And in their self-will, they hamstrung oxen. Now what that is, if we could put it into our cultural setting, they pour sand in the gas tanks of the tractor. That would be the same thing. Or they cut all the fuel lines. To hamstrung the oxen would mean that oxen can no longer plow. It's not gonna be able to pull a load. That's part of what we talked about last time, their overreaction to what had happened. He says it was done in their anger and in their self-will. And then Jacob says this in verse seven of Genesis 49. Cursed be their anger, for it is strong. Some people say, well, I'm just an angry man. I come from a whole family of angry people. Cursed be their anger. For it is strong. It's not wrong to be angry. In fact, isn't that part of being in the image of God? Is demonstrating anger at the right thing for the right reason. Within the image of God within us as human beings is the desire for justice. And anger is looking at something and saying that is not right and I'm going to deal with that to make it right. But Simeon and Levi, Their anger is done wrong, and it is strong, and their wrath, it is cruel. So it wasn't necessarily about justice and their love for their sister. There's a cruelty. That's why all of the men in town, right, were killed. And then they kidnapped all the women and all the kids. It's a cruel anger, it's a cruel justice. I will divide them amongst Jacob and scatter them in Israel. Levi ends up not getting any land at all, right? Remember that, they end up with some cities, Levitical cities, but they don't end up with a tribal allotment. So, having said that, that's part of the consequences from last time. Now, we come to the end of chapters 25 through 35, and you can see here on the wall that there are these, this expression that is used in the book of Genesis, and it's how the book of Genesis is divided up by Moses. These are the generations of. The Hebrew word is toledoth. It's just a fun word to say, but you can see it's the generations of creation, of the heavens and earth, it's the generations of Adam, the generations of Noah, Noah's sons, Shem, Terah, Abraham's, ends up becoming the line of Abraham, the generations of Ishmael, and what we've been focusing on, the generations of Isaac, of which Jacob is spoken of more often than Isaac. And then chapter 36 begins, these are the generations of Esau. And then lastly, in chapter 37, we finally get to the generations of Jacob, which mostly focus on Joseph. So just to help you where we're going. Now, Real quickly, again, where we have been in our study, Isaac's response to the covenant we saw in chapters 25 and 26. Isaac was deceived in chapters 26 and 27. Isaac blesses both of his sons, who are both unworthy of blessing. But then Jacob goes off into exile. Jacob returns and is transformed, and then in chapters 33 and 34, we have seen Jacob's restoration, and then the tragedy we looked at the last couple of weeks. That leads us to chapter 35, and two primary things here. Jacob's finally gonna get back to Bethel. And then Yahweh, God is going to restate the name change, because Jacob needs to be reminded, you're not who you used to be. And we all need that. Not that we need to literally change our names, but it was a custom, right? We see it carried over even in the New Testament, in Acts chapter four. We have a guy that we go by his nickname, but we sometimes forget his birth name, Barnabas. That's a nickname given to him. God does a similar thing here with Jacob. So if we can work through this, I know it's a longer introduction than what you're used to, but Jacob returns to Bethel. Look at verses one through four of chapter 35. God gives some revelation, and the revelation is expressed here in four commands. 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. So this takes place apparently 10 years after Jacob has returned to the land. He is to arise, he is to go up because Bethel is 1,000 feet higher in elevation than Shechem. But he is to go up there, he is to live there, and he is to make an altar. Why didn't he go to Bethel right away? The delay was costly, right? For everybody in the family. Now this move isn't far. It's basically from here to Springfield. Right, 15 miles. You were so close, right? Jacob, you came all the way back, and it's just that extra, what, a day of travel, right? Of walking? Normal is 15 to 20 miles. You just had one more day. And what were the consequences of stopping early? Well, talk to Dinah. Talk to Simeon and Levi. Talk to the people at Shechem. It was costly in so many ways. Maybe this is God's way of reminding Jacob that God knows what Jacob said back in chapter 28. I'm gonna go and if God keeps his promises, I'm gonna come back here and Yahweh will become my God. But I'm gonna come back here to Bethel. Sometimes we make promises, sometimes we make vows to God, and they sound so spiritual and they sound so sincere, and yet when we make those promises, we don't always carry them all the way out to their original intent. So God reveals to Jacob, and in verses two through four, Jacob responds. Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him. And what does he do? He says, first of all, we need to prepare to worship. Now, who is with him? Thanks to Simeon and Levi. It's not just Jacob and his four wives and his 12 children and everything, all of his people working with his livestock. He now has all those women and kids from Shechem. Everything has consequences. So he says to them, first of all, you need to prepare to worship. And this preparation for worship, look what Jacob says, you need to put away the foreign gods which are among you, cleanse yourselves, change your garments. So you kids, it's not just your mom who says you need to go change clothes, okay? This is something Jacob said to those who were with him. Now, why is that? Because many times the things that were plundered included false gods and things associated with the worship of demons. Perhaps at Shechem they stole not only all the money and not only all the food, very likely also the false gods and goddesses that were made of various valuable metals. But he says what you need to do is you need to prepare, and this preparation for worship, I think, is also necessary because of what they did at Shechem. They defiled themselves at Shechem by what they did. You need to purify yourselves. So he gives them, first of all, three clear commands, and then he gives them three clear intentions in verse three. Let us arise, let us go up, and I will make an altar there to God. Notice to whom the altar is made. It's not Yahweh, but it's to Elohim, the generic name for God that would be common among most cultures of this time frame. Is he saying this to include for those people who had been kidnapped at Shechem? Very possible. Now, lastly, I want you to see two clear descriptions he gives of God. Look at the end of verse three. This is the God who answered me in the day of my distress. He's a God who hears and answers prayer. That inspires hope and encourages people. But secondly, he is the God who has been with me wherever I have gone. Isn't that what Jacob was talking about in chapter 28? God, if you will be with me and bring me back, He is the God not only who answers prayer, He is the God who keeps His promises. And people need to hear that when you and I are interacting with people. This is the God who is worthy of our worship. Now this doesn't mean that everybody who's with Jacob is gonna end up worshiping and believing in Yahweh exclusively. But now, y'all are part of Jacob's family. Not by choice, but y'all are part of Jacob's family, and in this family, we worship Yahweh, right? Isn't this similar to Joshua at the end of, choose you this day whom you're gonna serve, but as for me and my house, we're gonna serve Yahweh, right? It's a similar thing. Look at verse four. How do all these people respond? And so they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears. Now again, this is not saying that all earrings are sinful. Sometimes you have to say these things because we say some really silly things as conservative Christian people. All earrings are not sinful. These are probably earrings that are associated with the worship of false gods. And so everything that may be associated with false gods or demons is being collected here. And I think the interesting thing is, as Victor Hamilton says, what we've seen so far in the book of Genesis is this, false gods can be stolen, false gods can be sat on, False gods can be stained with blood, and now false gods can be buried. See where Moses is going with this? So why would you worship them? Why would you pray to them? Moses has intentions here. So, So God has revealed and we've seen Jacob's response. Now in verses five through eight very quickly, God protects Jacob and we see Jacob's response. First of all it says, so they journeyed on and there was a terror from God upon the cities which were around them and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. What was Jacob's concern after his sons did what they did at Shechem? Oh, you've made us stink in the noses of all the people around us and they're gonna cause harm to us. So what does God do about it? He takes care of it, right? It's not up to Jacob. All of your worries, all your anxiety is taken care of. What we have seen regarding Jacob up to this point, people have mostly only been angry with Jacob, and now they're afraid of him, right? A God-inspired fear. Is this fear toward God or fear from God? Probably a combination, I think. But there is a fear that they look at Jacob, they remember, they've heard, they read the news, right? They watched the news after supper and they saw what happened at Shechem. It happened because of Jacob and his family. So that's all part of this, I think. This is all tied together. So first of all, there's a safe journey. Secondly, in verses six and seven, there is obedience to God's commands. So Jacob came to Luz, that is Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. And he built an altar there, and he called the place Al-Bethel. El is an abbreviation for Elohim, the God of Bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. So Jacob comes back. The expression, and I don't have time to develop this, but let me just highlight this in verse seven. The expression God revealed. is an unusual, I think it's the only time this is used in the Old Testament, but the word God is plural, Elohim, but the word revealed is also plural. It's unusual. Normally with Elohim, there's a singular verb. Now, I think what this does is it gives us a hint of the Trinity. It's not obviously clearly teaching the Trinity, but instead of saying God revealed, it is God re, how do you do that in English? They revealed, okay? So it's a hint, it's an indication of more to come. The point is Jacob obeyed and God is protecting him. God is revealed, God is protected. And in the midst of all of this, now look at verse eight. This is really sad. This is a sorrowful thing that takes place. Then Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died. Now, is she the woman who nursed Rebecca back in chapter 24 in verse 59? If so, she's really old. And she's been around a long time. She's been kind of the nanny. And she's been around a long time. And now as Jacob is coming back, his mother's nanny passes away. and we're all sad and it's a difficult thing, but he buries her below Bethel under the oak, which is called the oak, Oak of Weeping, Alon Bakuth. But thankfully sorrow is not the last chapter. Look at verses nine through 15 very quickly. I think what we have here is an indication of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, appearing in temporary human form to Jacob. Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan Aram. This is the third time Christ has appeared to Jacob in Genesis. And Jacob's gonna retell this story later in chapter 48, but for now, God the Son reveals himself to Jacob, and notice what it says in verse nine, and he blessed him. So there's revelation and there's a blessing. Secondly, there is a demonstration, not only of God the Son's revelation, there's a demonstration of God the Son's authority. He has the authority to change Jacob's name. Because if you own something, you can call it whatever you want, right? That's what we do when you get, you kids, when you get a new stuffed animal, sometimes people say, well, what's your bear's name? And you give it a name, right? Some people name their cars. We had a car one time that was named Eunice. Don't ask me why. But somebody in the family decided that car was Eunice. Why do we give it a name? Because we own it. Authority. We name our children, all sorts of things that we name because we have authority. But God the Son, Jesus says, your name is Jacob, your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. Now this has already happened, we know this, but this is restated because Jacob needs to remember that even though you've come into the land, even though I have been faithful and fulfilled all the promises I gave you in chapter 28, But even though your family did what it did in chapter 34, I have still changed your name and I've changed you. In spite of your imperfections, in spite of what your family has done, I am still faithful. Your sin, Jacob, does not wipe out all the promises. Your sin does not wipe out all the blessings. So we see God the Son's revelation, we see God the Son's authority to change Jacob's name, and thirdly, we see God the Son's authority to restate the covenant in verses 11 and 12. And God also said to him, I am God Almighty. I am, in the Hebrew, El Shaddai. I am the God who is enough. Now this was used earlier in chapter 17 with Abraham. The names of God are important. So God the Son is restating this name and encouraging Jacob to remember that I am the same God who spoke to Abraham in chapter 17. And he gives him two commands, be fruitful and multiply. Common command throughout the book of Genesis. And then he gives him He gives him four promises. And the first one is political. A nation shall come from you, and an assembly of nations shall come from you. So you're gonna become a political entity. Secondly, there's going to be royalty. Kings shall come forth from your loins. Same promises that were made to Abraham and Sarah, chapter 17. Thirdly, the land is yours. And the land is, this promise is broken into two pieces. Number one, personally, I will give the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac to you, Jacob. And then, not just personally to Jacob, but then corporately. And this weighs into our current day conflict that is taking place in the Middle East. Whose land is it? What does it say? And I will give the land to your seed after you. It belongs to Jacob's descendants. So these four promises, Jacob needs to be reminded of these things. And so God the Son has revealed himself to Jacob and demonstrated his revelation and his authority. And then verse 13 says, then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. Kind of a a hint, if you will, of the ascension, I think, in Acts chapter one. And then how does Jacob respond? Verses 14 and 15, then we're done. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it, and he also poured oil on it, And so Jacob demonstrates authority. What does he do? He names the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel. See what Jacob is doing? He is restating publicly, reconfirming his allegiance to this God. In spite of all that has happened, in spite of all that Jacob has done, God is faithful. God has kept his promise. God is the God who has listened to Jacob's prayer. God is the God who has taken care of Jacob. He is worthy of your trust. Now, two things I want to leave with you this morning. Number one, we all embrace something. Whether it's a false god, whether it's earrings dedicated to a false god, it doesn't matter what it is. We all embrace something or someone. And we all cling tight to those things, and that's why Jacob has to say to all of those people who are with him, you need to get rid of that stuff. And we need to bury it, because it's gonna be a distraction in more ways than one. Now, obviously, my use of the word embrace, we could use a synonym for that, right? We trust in something or someone. Everybody has faith in something or someone. The issue is what is your object of faith? Who is your object of faith? And Jacob, in spite of all of his inabilities to function properly and consistently as a father and the leader of this clan, he struggles just like all of us do in a walk of faith. But Jacob's been transformed in chapter 32, and he is trying to do the right thing. He is trying to move forward. He does it inconsistently, but he wants those around him. Trust in this God. So that is my second point. Are you willing to embrace God and his revelation? See, we're all gonna trust something. We're going to trust science. We're going to trust what we read on the internet. We're going to trust what we see in the news. We're going to trust something. We're going to trust someone. Someone is our final authority. And I don't know who yours is, but we all have somebody that we go back to and we compare things we read and hear and see, and we go, but what did he say? What did she say? We have a standard that's, and we may not even always do it consciously, but there are certain things that we say, well, this is true, and what I just heard contradicts this. But my question for us this morning is, is this standard that we have, is this the one true God? Is this his revelation that we're clinging to? What is it, what is the grid through which you sift everything in your life? We all do that, right? We all have one of those sifter things that, I remember my mom had one of those with, what was it, for powdered sugar? And we would, and we would watch the sugar fall onto the plate below. But we all sift things through a particular grid Who determines what your grid is? God does. And you need to embrace that grid work and sift everything. If you want to use another synonym, call it a worldview. Same thing. We all have a worldview. And you either begin with the one true God, And you begin with His revelation of Himself and of His promises and of His covenants and of His creation and where He's going with His eternal purpose, or you're going to trust something else, someone else. By the grace of God, Jacob has been brought throughout our study of this little section on Isaac from Genesis 25 through chapter 35, we have watched Jacob go from somebody who was trusting in himself to now he's telling other people, trust this God. Okay, how does that happen? God's grace. And the same thing can take place in your life and in my life, right? Christ came to transform us. That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, isn't it, in verse 17, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. We have a new worldview. We have a new standard. We have a new grid. by which we can filter the things that we hear and see in our culture. We can filter our thoughts that spring up within and our emotions and our passions and our affections and we can run them through this grid work so that we can sift out the things that are not acceptable to God and to embrace those things which are. That's God's grace. He wants to transform. He wants to, by His grace and for His glory, make us new, new creatures. Let's have a word of prayer and then we will. Have our benediction. Father, we again bow before you. The God who promises and keeps his promises. The God who makes covenants and keeps his covenants. The God who creates and the God who recreates. The God who forms and the God who transforms. The God who speaks. truth because he is the God of truth and the God who cannot lie. Father, similar to Jacob, we need to be transformed, we need to be changed, and that is only possible by your grace. And similar to Jacob, we are inconsistent in our walk of faith. We're not made perfectly mature at the moment of salvation. We have to grow. We are called to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It takes time. But Father, you are the God who, as Paul says to the Philippian group of believers, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perfect it, will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ. Father, this is our hope, because you have spoken, you have promised, and you will keep your promise. Father, perhaps there's someone here this morning who has wrestled with this and is beginning to realize, I need to be brought into a right relationship with this God. I need to have a new grid work by which I can think and reason. I need to be transformed. Pray that your Spirit would do this work in them this morning, perhaps. But Father, we know that you will do what is right. You have revealed yourself as the judge of all the earth, and he will do what is right. Thank you, Father, for this, in Christ we ask. Amen. We'll ask you to stand for our benediction this morning which is taken from Paul's letter to the Philippians. It's a simple little benediction in chapter four and verse 20 where Paul says to the church at Philippi, now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen, you are dismissed.