Old Testament: Genesis 35 & 36
Poetry: Psalm 15
New Testament: Matthew 13:31-35
Genesis 35 begins with God telling Jacob to go to Bethel and make an altar there to “the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” God is reminding Jacob of what He has done for him in the past. Do you remember what Rachel did a few chapters back? She stole her father’s idols! Jacob’s household STILL has these foreign gods in their possession. The very first commandment in the Ten Commandments (which will be) given to Moses is “You shall have no other gods before me”. What have Jacob’s people done? They have sinned!
I find this next part so interesting. In verses 2 and 3 Jacob gives instructions to his people. He says “put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.” This is repentance. Did Jacob say that they could keep the idols in their spare room and ignore them? NO. They took everything that was an idol or connected to paganism and buried them in the ground. They cast the items of sin out of their midst. Then, after turning away, they purified themselves and changed their clothes.
One commentary makes an interesting point about the garments. There are multiple places in scripture where garments symbolize the character of people. How interesting is it that Jacob told his people to change their garments, almost like a physical way to visualize the heart change of repentance? This gives even more depth to the verses that say things like “put on Christ” or “put on the new self”. WOW! Let’s take a second to thank the Lord for the true gift of Jesus and what that means for our personal lives. The Old Testament is filled with people making altars to God for numerous things. We don’t have to do that anymore because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. Now, our lives are an offering to God and Christ is the one to cover all of our sins. How amazing is that?
Okay, back to Jacob. What do you notice about God in this chapter? I notice how gracious God is. These people had taken false gods! There was no reason why they deserved to have God on their side. But He is still faithful to them! He guides them, protects them, and then blesses them by giving Jacob an incredible promise at the end of the chapter.
How amazing it is to have a God that will forgive us. I want this story to prompt us today to think about any areas in our lives where we are holding on to sin. If we are in Christ, we are a new creation, and although that doesn’t mean we are perfect yet, it does mean that we are continually being transformed. Ephesians 4 says, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” What does that look like in your life? Think about how you can “put on the new self” today.
-Katelyn Salyers
Reflection Questions
- What will it look like to take off your old self? What do you need to get out of your house, your heart, your life? Are you hiding any foreign gods?
- What will it look like to put on your new self today? How can you put on a clean set of clothes?
Seek Grow Love 