While I was reading Genesis 35, it\u2019s like someone turned on a late 90s country radio station in my head. Surely I\u2019m not the only one who noticed how Jacob always seemed, \u201cready, ready, ready, ready, ready to ru\u00b7\u200buh\u00b7\u200bun\u201d (cue fiddle). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The run started in Genesis 28, after he deceived his father and stole his brother\u2019s birthright. With his sin on his heels and his brother\u2019s murderous plots following closely behind, he set out\u2014accompanied by the hope of God\u2019s blessing bestowed upon him by his father, Isaac. And it was on this very run that he encountered a God he might not have known he needed, the One that he could only describe as the God of his Father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just one generation later, we find his sons taking vengeance into their own hands following the brutal acts committed against their sister. After they made a deceitful, false promise, they took for themselves flocks, herds, donkeys, possessions, dependents, and wives\u2014right alongside the lives of guilty and innocent men alike. And so the run begins again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But on the run in Genesis 35, I think Jacob knew the God He was running back to. He was no longer His Father\u2019s God. He was the God who answered him in his distress and had been with him everywhere he had gone (Genesis 35:3). God met him on the run and the rerun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord brought Jacob back to the place he first encountered God at Bethel. And it was here that God affirmed and enlarged the promises God gave to him there. But this encounter carried significance beyond Jacob\u2019s own transformation; the entire family was now prepared to encounter the presence and promise of God. It\u2019s here that the focus of God\u2019s promise to Jacob shifted beyond the one man to the full, familial extent of the covenant. God promised that a \u201cnation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you\u201d (v.11). The covenant wasn\u2019t just for Jacob but all who would come after Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a people who had only taken from others, they encountered a God who graciously gives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why continue the covenant through Jacob, a man who consistently sought his own needs over others and whose own sons followed suit? I wouldn\u2019t consider Jacob or His descendants to necessarily be deserving people. Maybe you, like me, struggle to understand why God would continue to be gracious to people who act this way. Yet God was faithful to His promises when they were not. He chose to extend mercy to this family that ran, and He met them on the run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the same God who extends mercy to us today, a people also always on the run. Under the new covenant established by Jesus, we no longer have to run. His Spirit remains with us, wherever we may go, wherever we may ru\u00b7\u200buh\u00b7\u200bun.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While I was reading Genesis 35, it\u2019s like someone turned on a late 90s country radio station in my head. Surely I\u2019m not the only one who noticed how Jacob always seemed, \u201cready, ready, ready, ready, ready to ru\u00b7\u200buh\u00b7\u200bun\u201d (cue fiddle). The run started in Genesis 28, after he deceived his father and stole his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":71768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesis25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71878],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"She Reads Truth","devotional_text":"RETURN TO BETHEL<\/b>
\r\nby Hannah Little<\/i>
\r\n
While I was reading Genesis 35, it\u2019s like someone turned on a late 90s country radio station in my head. Surely I\u2019m not the only one who noticed how Jacob always seemed, \u201cready, ready, ready, ready, ready to ru\u00b7\u200buh\u00b7\u200bun\u201d (cue fiddle).<\/p>
\r\n
The run started in Genesis 28, after he deceived his father and stole his brother\u2019s birthright. With his sin on his heels and his brother\u2019s murderous plots following closely behind, he set out\u2014accompanied by the hope of God\u2019s blessing bestowed upon him by his father, Isaac. And it was on this very run that he encountered a God he might not have known he needed, the One that he could only describe as the God of his Father.<\/p>
\r\n
And just one generation later, we find his sons taking vengeance into their own hands following the brutal acts committed against their sister. After they made a deceitful, false promise, they took for themselves flocks, herds, donkeys, possessions, dependents, and wives\u2014right alongside the lives of guilty and innocent men alike. And so the run begins again.<\/p>
\r\n
But on the run in Genesis 35, I think Jacob knew the God He was running back to. He was no longer His Father\u2019s God. He was the God who answered him in his distress and had been with him everywhere he had gone (Genesis 35:3). God met him on the run and the rerun.<\/p>
\r\n
The Lord brought Jacob back to the place he first encountered God at Bethel. And it was here that God affirmed and enlarged the promises God gave to him there. But this encounter carried significance beyond Jacob\u2019s own transformation; the entire family was now prepared to encounter the presence and promise of God. It\u2019s here that the focus of God\u2019s promise to Jacob shifted beyond the one man to the full, familial extent of the covenant. God promised that a \u201cnation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you\u201d (v.11). The covenant wasn\u2019t just for Jacob but all who would come after Him.<\/p>
\r\n
For a people who had only taken from others, they encountered a God who graciously gives.<\/p>
\r\n
Why continue the covenant through Jacob, a man who consistently sought his own needs over others and whose own sons followed suit? I wouldn\u2019t consider Jacob or His descendants to necessarily be deserving people. Maybe you, like me, struggle to understand why God would continue to be gracious to people who act this way. Yet God was faithful to His promises when they were not. He chose to extend mercy to this family that ran, and He met them on the run.<\/p>
\r\n
This is the same God who extends mercy to us today, a people also always on the run. Under the new covenant established by Jesus, we no longer have to run. His Spirit remains with us, wherever we may go, wherever we may ru\u00b7\u200buh\u00b7\u200bun.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"24","scripture":"Genesis 34:1-31, Genesis 35:1-29, Genesis 36:1-43, Psalm 116:1-2, Isaiah 43:1-2","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}