August 1: The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” –Genesis 35:1-3
God calls Jacob and his family to get up and get out of this place where (because of the events of chapter 34) they’ve gone from being peaceful shepherds to predatory warriors by killing so many men in Shechem. It’s going to take faith for them to do that because it isn’t safe anymore. That’s easy though, since we see that God terrified everyone around them and they moved on safely.
The difficult thing is the purity part. Jacob realizes they have foreign gods with them, especially referring to the household gods Rachel had stolen from Laban. They even seem to have pagan jewelry in their ears. Verse 4 says they “hid” them. It’s an unusual Hebrew word that means something like “dumped.” It’ a demeaning word to insult the gods. They had been sat upon (31:33-35) and are now denigrated to their final burial. That’s pretty much not what you’d want in your god(s)!
So then in verse 3 Jacob’s family goes from the gods to the God who answers them in the day of distress (not like the foreign gods who are themselves in distress!). They go to the God who is with them through all their travels, unlike the foreign gods who must be toted here and there. And they go to the place where the special presence of the Lord may be found.
Every day, but especially every Lord’s Day, we are called to put away the foreign gods among us and go to the place where the special presence of the Lord is found in what is Bethel for us this side of the cross: the preaching of the Word and the table of the Lord. There we proclaim publicly to all who would see that we worship the one true God and trample idols underfoot. More than any other place, because of Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection, it’s in the public worship of God Almighty that we are renewed in our day of distress, purified by his blood, and we have our garments changed from filthy rags to the righteous robes of Christ.
And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty
Psalm 146 (Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah)
Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (in Galatians) is continues. Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!