Week 34, Day 5: Giving Up False Gods
Today’s Reading: Genesis 35:1-29
Some thoughts from the reading…
In Genesis 35, God spoke to Jacob and sent him back to Bethel to live. As Jacob was preparing his family to move to Bethel, he gave some instructions. One thing in particular that he instructed was that they were to give up any gods that they brought with them. He collected them all, and buried them under a tree, before moving on.
I find it very interesting that Jacob took these gods, and buried them. He separated them from the people, and then made sure that they could not get them back. These gods were not acceptable, and if they were going to accept Jehovah, they had to be willing to give them up. Remember, these gods meant a lot to the people. Rachel had stolen her father’s god, and brought it with her. Laban was willing to attack Jacob’s men (he was held back by God) over the god. Rachel was willing to steal, and deceive to keep the god. Now, Jacob was saying that they had to give them up!
We have already written quite a bit about the dangers of idolatry, and we will certainly be writing much more about it as we follow the history of Israel. Here, we are shown the need to get rid of any kind of idolatry that stood between the people and God. God would provide all that they needed, and these gods couldn’t give them anything. How could they, as they were the creation of men? Jacob’s actions showed the people just how useless, and helpless these gods were. Would a real god allow their image to be buried in the ground, and left behind in such a symbolic way?
Sometimes we need to do the same type of thing that Jacob did. We allow things to stand between us and faithful service to God. It probably won’t be an idol in our case, but we often have other things that need to be “buried in the ground” (either literally, or symbolically). Any time we find that we allow worldly things to keep us from doing what is right, we need to have the courage, and the dedication to get rid of those things, and put our service to God first and foremost in our lives.
Question: What types of things do you thing people today need to “bury in the ground” to make sure they don’t interfere with their spiritual faithfulness?
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