Genesis 35:2-5 (NIV)
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. Then 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. ”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. Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
Jacob seems to me to be a person who is easily influenced by those around him. His uncle Laban (and father-in-law) worshipped other gods, and it seems his own family continued that practice. Perhaps that’s why we see such reprehensible behaviour by his sons over the treatment of their sister. One of my mum’s often quoted sayings was “two wrongs don’t make a right” and this is certainly true here. Jacob too does not appear to have consulted God over how to handle the matter. But God continues to be merciful and gracious to Jacob and speaks to him once more. Jacob is to go back to the place where he first met with God. God had clearly touched him and he set the household to rights by telling his family to get rid of all their idols, and they set off to the place that God told him to go. Once they had done so, the very terror of God fell on the towns they passed through. The sense of God’s presence was palpable and there was no danger of a repeat of what had happened to Dinah. It was not the fear of Jacob or his family that affected the towns, it was the fear of God.
This reminds me that we need to be careful that we don’t allow ourselves to be influenced by anything that is not from God. We may not think it will affect us, but it does. There’s an old saying in Christian circles that you can’t have a foot in both camps, and the older I get the more I see why. God took Jacob back to the place where He had first spoken to him, but first Jacob got rid of all the things that held him back. When he set his heart to do as God wanted and to put God first, offering Him praise and thanks, the sense of God fell upon the company and impacted those around them.
As Christians we are meant to be in such a close relationship with God that His presence in us impact those around us too. But we too can find ourselves influenced by others and lose our focus. God through Christ is equally gracious and merciful to us, and when we reset our focus to the things that God wants us to, the sense of His presence should become evident in our lives. And when it does, it will hopefully make the right impact on those we come into contact with.
Dear Lord,
I’m so grateful for this reminder of your grace and mercy that seeks to bring us back to the place of Your appointing if we lose our focus and go astray. Help me to make sure that I do not allow myself to be influenced by my circumstances but keep y focus on You so that Your presence and hand is evident on my life, and that it impacts others for Your glory. I pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.