Starting Over with God

Genesis 35:1-15

Genesis 35

• Warren Wiersbe– “Moving from Genesis 34 to Genesis 35 is like

going from a desert to a garden or from an emergency room to a wedding reception”

• Faith and obedience, cleansing and renewal

– God - 10 times – El Shaddai = “God Almighty, the all-sufficient

One” – Jacob making Spiritual progress and arriving

at the place of God’s appointment

New Problems and Trials

• Jacob’s Trials – Buried his nursemaid, his father and his

favorite wife– His firstborn son committed a terrible sin– Being a victorious Christian doesn’t mean

escaping the difficulties of life and enjoying only carefree days

• Walking with God by faith – Means knowing that He is with us, and

trusting Him to help us for our good and His glory

– Asking not “How can I get out of this?” but “What can I get out of this?”

Jacob Returned to Bethel

• The need to walk closer to God– Heart grows cold and complacent and indifferent

• The flesh reigns in their life

• They seek the pleasures and comforts of the world

• They have no longer have a testimony for the Lord

• They need to clean up their lives, repent, and turn to God with a new commitment to follow Him as never before!

• They need to start over with God in their lives

– The first recorded revival in the Bible

Starting Over with God

– God’s call (v.1)– God’s message (v.2-3)– Repentance (v.4)– Obedience to God and God’s presence

and deliverance (v.5-7)– A new power to confront day to day

trials (v.8)– A special blessing by God (v.9-12)– Worship of God (v.13-15)

God’s Call v. 1

• A New Start– Good news! We don’t have to stay the way

we are!– No matter how many times we’ve failed the

Lord, we can go home again if we truly repent and obey

• Abraham• Isaac • David • Jonah • Peter • Jacob

God’s Call v. 1

• God spoke to Jacob– Only 30 miles away from Bethel– But now the Lord spoke to him and told him

to move to Bethel and settle down there– Bethel was God’s appointed place for him

and his family• Jacob had built an altar in Shechem

– “God the God of Israel” – But God wanted Jacob at Bethel - “the house

of God” – The Lord reminded Jacob

• How He had delivered him and blessed him• His vows to the Lord

Incomplete Obedience and Conscience

• Many of the problems in the Christian life result from incomplete obedience

– We know what the Lord wants us to do, we start to do it, and then we stop

– Jacob had a deep sense of disobedience and backsliding

– He knew that he had not set a spiritual example for his children

– He lived a carnal, worldly life, and the impact upon his family was now being reaped

– He had allowed idolatry within his own house• God’s Spirit was convicting Jacob of his

disobedience– There was no excuse – Bethel was only a day’s journey away

Incomplete Obedience and Conscience

• Jacob found that the fault was within his own heart

– And now God was dealing with him– But God had always been dealing with Jacob– God had never left him alone– It took a crisis to get his attention

• God’s message to Jacob– Move to Bethel– Build an altar there to seek and worship the

Lord– “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a

broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17)

Jacob Instructs His Household vv. 2–3

• Jacob bears witness to what God said to him

– The first thing they had to do was get rid of their idols

• Rachel had stolen her father’s household idols– The second instruction was “purify yourselves

and change your clothes” • Washing the body and changing clothes symbolize

making a new beginning. • Like dirt, sin is defiling and must be washed away

– Psalms 51:2, 7; Isaiah 1:16; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 1:9

• Old garments typify the old life with its failures• But God in His mercy gives us “new garments” so

we can make a fresh beginning – Genesis 3:21; Zecheriah 3:1–5; Luke 15:22; Revelation

3:18

Repentance (v. 4)

• All the people obeyed Jacob’s commands– The people were obviously convicted of their sins – They gave all their idols and all the rings in their

ears to Jacob– Jacob then took and buried them– Picture of repentance

• The people were turning away from their old life, giving up everything that took their thoughts and hearts off God

– They were ready to go to Bethel, the house of God, and seek God for their salvation and deliverance

Deliverance from Evil

• God protected Jacob and his household (v. 5)

– Jacob and the people obeyed God• He delivered them by His mighty power• You cannot walk with God if you do not obey Him

– Jacob was afraid the people of the land would attack him

– God intervened and put the “terror of God” into their hearts to stop them

– When God’s people are doing God’s will in God’s way, they can depend on God’s provision and protection

God’s Deliverance• God delivers us from all trouble and evil

– “Fear thou not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold youhee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10)

• God delivers us from our enemies– “He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which

hated me: for they were too strong for me” (Psalm 18:17)• God delivers us from all fears, even the fear of death

– “For you have delivered my soul from death: will you not deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?” (Psalm 56:13)

• God delivers us from temptation and evil– “There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:

but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

• God delivers us from pestilence and disease– “Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from

the perilous pestilence” (Psalm 91:3)

Comfort in Trials

• Trials Will Come (vv. 6–8) – We all want to ask God for blessings and a

new revelation of Himself, but trials still come!– James 1:2-4

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be

perfect and complete, lacking nothing

– Death of a loved one is the greatest of trials!• Jacob’s first trial was in the death of Deborah • Deborah had helped to raise Jacob• She was Rebekah’s maid and had come from Hebron

to be with Jacob when he returned

Comfort

• God’s presence brings comfort in day-to-day trials

– There must have been a deep love of Deborah by Jacob and his family

– Allon Bacuth = “the oak of weeping”

Worship

• God’s Blessing (vv. 9–13) – At Bethel, Jacob had seen God and the

angels in a dream (28:12), but now the Lord appeared to Jacob and blessed him

• “Israel” • “God Almighty” = El-Shaddai

– God reaffirmed the promises • Multiplying of Jacob’s descendants • Possessing the land• Nations and kings would be among his

descendants

– God’s promises are sure and we can rest in every promise God has made!

Worship (vv. 14-15)

• Jacob set up a pillar and dedicated it to the Lord

– He not only poured oil on the pillar, but he also poured out a drink offering of wine

– The drink offering was poured out on the altar as the sacrifice was burning

– Dedication of the worshiper’s life poured out on top of the sacrifice to the Lord (2 Samuel 23:16; Philippians 2:17)

• Jacob’s restoration was now complete– He had come back to the house of God– He was starting to be “Israel” and live like a prince

instead of a pauper– He gave public testimony to the fact that God had

met him at Bethel, at the house of God

Starting Over with God

• Restoration of your walk with God always lead you to do two things

– Worship God – Bear testimony to God’s work in our lives

• Going back to Bethel means– Back to a remembrance of our first love– Back to the better life we once knew– Back to God’s Word– Back to active service for the Lord

• God is calling each of us!– Back to Bethel – The House of God – It will change our lives and impact others for God and

His kingdom!