Genesis

Genesis 35: God renews His promise through sorrow

Begin in prayer

Before we read about worship, God's promise and the losses in Jacob's household, let us bring Him what troubles us. Please ask Him to show us Christ and turn our hearts from every rival to the God who remains faithful.

God is to us a God of deliverance. To Yahweh, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

Psalm 68:20

God Almighty, please help us understand Your call to worship and the promise You keep through grief and sin. Show us Jesus, the King who gives forgiveness and life. Make us more like Him, turning from false gods and caring for those who mourn. Please bless our family with new hearts that rest in Your faithful Word. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

God commands Jacob to go to Bethel, and the household gives up its foreign gods and earrings before travelling under His protection. Jacob builds an altar there, and Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dies and is buried beneath an oak. God appears again, names Jacob Israel and promises nations, kings and the land, and Jacob sets up a pillar with offerings. On the road to Ephrath Rachel dies giving birth, calling the child Benoni, while Jacob names him Benjamin and marks her grave. Reuben sins with Bilhah and Israel hears, then the account lists Jacob's twelve sons by their mothers. Jacob comes to Isaac at Hebron, and Isaac dies at one hundred eighty, with Esau and Jacob burying him.

As you read Genesis 35, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God calls Jacob to worship Him alone and renews His promise through grief and sin.

God sends Jacob to Bethel to build an altar to the One who appeared when he fled, calling the household to worship Him alone. Jacob orders them to remove their foreign gods, purify themselves and change their clothes, then buries the surrendered gods and earrings near Shechem. God keeps surrounding cities from pursuing Jacob's sons, protecting the family without approving their earlier violence. Deborah dies and is buried, then God appears, confirms the name Israel and promises nations, kings and the land given to Abraham and Isaac. Jacob marks the place where God spoke with a pillar, a drink offering and oil, acknowledging the God who renews His promise. Rachel dies giving birth on the road to Ephrath, naming her son Benoni, while Jacob names him Benjamin and marks her grave. Reuben sins with Bilhah and Jacob hears, yet the list that follows still counts all twelve sons without declaring that his wrongdoing is harmless. Jacob reaches Isaac at Hebron, and the chapter closes with Isaac's death at one hundred eighty and his burial by Esau and Jacob. The promised King comes through Judah as Jesus Christ, whose victory gives believers hope beyond sin and death (Revelation 5 verse 5).

How does Genesis 35 show us that God calls Jacob to worship Him alone and renews His promise through grief and sin?

God calls the household to put away its false gods.

God commands Jacob to return to Bethel, and Jacob directs the household to remove foreign gods and prepare to worship. They surrender the gods and earrings, and God prevents the surrounding cities from pursuing them. His protection gives no approval to their earlier violence, and outward washing cannot make a sinful heart clean. Christ cleanses sinners through His finished sacrifice and gives new hearts that turn to the living God.

God Almighty renews His promise of a people, kings and land.

After Deborah's burial, God appears and confirms Jacob's new name, then promises nations, kings and the land given to his fathers. The promise rests on God Almighty, who declares what He will give before Jacob responds with the pillar and offerings. Jesus is the victorious King from Judah's line, bringing God's promised salvation to those who trust Him.

God's promise gives hope while His people grieve.

Rachel dies as Benjamin is born, and Jacob sets a pillar over her grave beside the road. Later Isaac dies, and Esau and Jacob bury him, while God's promise continues beyond the lives of its first hearers. Jesus calls the God of Isaac the God of the living, giving believers resurrection hope (Luke 20 verses 37 and 38). If you trust Christ, bring Him your grief and look to the life He gives beyond the grave.

God's faithfulness gives no excuse for sin within the family.

Reuben sleeps with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and the chapter records that Israel hears. The twelve sons remain listed, yet Reuben later loses his firstborn privileges because of that act. Being named in a household gives no forgiveness by itself, so each person must turn from sin and come to Christ.

Memorise

I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body.

Genesis 35:11

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what rival am I keeping that I need Christ to remove from my heart?

God says to Jacob, “I am God Almighty.” He renews His promise of nations, kings and land in a chapter that also records three deaths and a son's grave sin. Deborah, Rachel and Isaac are buried, yet God's promise continues. His faithfulness does not make the grief small or the wrongdoing harmless.

Jesus comes from this family as the promised King, holy where its members have failed. On the cross, He stood in His people's place and bore God's judgment against their sins. He rose bodily, and His finished work is enough to cleanse and keep every sinner who trusts Him. Jesus calls the God of Isaac the God of the living, so His people's life continues beyond death (Luke 20 verses 37 and 38).

Please turn from whatever you keep in God's place and trust Jesus Christ. Everyone who repents and believes in Him receives forgiveness and life that death cannot take away. If you belong to Him, bring Him your grief and put away what competes with Him. Worship the faithful God who has made Himself known through His Son and will keep His people through every loss.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God remains faithful through grief and sin, explaining the deaths and Reuben's act in verse 22 carefully. The promised King died for His people's sins and rose, so call each child to repent and trust Him for forgiveness. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Pray that God would give them new hearts that worship Him alone and seek comfort in Christ.

Pray together

Please bring God the rival named in the heart question and ask for a heart that trusts Christ alone. Thank Him that His promise holds through grief and failure. Invite each child to pray if they want to, asking for forgiveness or comfort after a loss.

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

Colossians 3:3-4

Faithful Father, thank You for keeping Your promise and giving life through Jesus. Please forgive the rivals we have kept beside You, and lead us to repent and trust Him. Comfort those who grieve, expose the sin we hide and teach us to worship You with thankful hearts. Keep our family resting on Your Word. Amen.