Genesis 34. 05.28.26
SCRIPTURE
“Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.””
Genesis 34:30 NIV
OBSERVATION
Some thirty years before, when God met Jacob at Bethel during Jacob’s flight from Esau—God encouraged him with a vision of angels ascending to and descending from Heaven on his behalf.
Jacob made a vow, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you” (Gen 28:20-22).
This vow was followed by a twenty-year sojourn in Mesopotamia serving his Uncle Laban, at the end of which time God reminded Jacob of his obligation to leave Laban and return home (Gen 31:3).
But following his escape from Laban, Jacob did not honor his vow to God or obey God. When he crossed over into Canaan, he settled in prosperous Shechem, twenty miles short of Bethel. This halfway obedience brought catastrophic results; the rape of his daughter Dinah, the desecration of Israel’s most holy sign—circumcision, the massacre of the Shechemites, the degradation of his own children, and rendered Jacob a stench in the land.
Yet—it also most significantly, rendered Jacob ready to hear God’s voice.
“Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled [years ago] from Esau your brother.” (Genesis 35:1 AMP)
APPLICATION
God’s FIERCE Grace Pursues us
Be aware—and deeply Thankful for it.
Personally I don’t find Jacob likable, but at times he is admirable. He soars and he slides. He is Jacob and he is Israel. The cost of Jacob’s disobedience was immense, as chapter 34 records—rape, degeneration, treachery, and genocide. Yet in all of this—God’s fierce grace was at work.
God allows us to experience the weight of our sin—
SO HE can return us to His Calling.
Jacob experienced a heavy weight yet God—in His Fierce Grace—sets him back on the right path—reminding him of his calling as the son of Promise and instructs Him to go to Bethel.
This is God’s Fierce, Fiery Grace.
A grace I have experienced in my life. This is the Story of all God’s Children.
“Out of his fullness we have all received—grace in place of grace already given.” (John 1:16 NIV)
“But Christ gives us MORE grace.
That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”” (James 4:6)
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace—who has called youto his eternal glory in Christ, will himself—restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV)
Nothing can Thwart God’s plans and purposes. Jacob who is given a new name by God—Israel has birthed Sons who become the twelve tribes of the Land promised to Abraham and Isaac and fulfilled in Jacob-Israel.
Even with all of his missteps—This is the goodness and Fierce Grace of our God.
“Surely YOUR goodness and unfailing love
will—pursue me—all the days—of my life”
(Psalms 23:6a NLT)
“For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—
and this is not from—yourselves,
it is the—gift of God—”
(Ephesians 2:8 NIV)
PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
YOU are constantly tracking us down to bless us with YOUR love and mercy and grace. Your Grace and Love pursuit Never ends. Thank YOU that like Jacob, You have given me an inheritance. Like Jacob I have run ahead of YOU often. Like Jacob I have sworn oaths to surrender fully. And like Jacob I have fallen short. Forgive me. Thank YOU for YOUR Love that genuinely follows me—all the days of my life. Help me to be what YOU Call me into being. Help my motives to be pure before YOU and heaven focused, not earthly bound. I pray more and more to be genuinely aware..that I may be deeply Thankful for Your fierce grace over my life.
In Jesus Name. Amen, 🙏
Tina L Kudelka