TEXT - Genesis 35
These are chapters marked by both life and death. We see life as God tells Jacob to return to Bethel, where he confirms His covenant promise of blessing with Jacob. Here we are drawn back to God's promise to Abraham and Isaac, as well as on God’s original words to Adam and Eve in 1:28. We also see life in the birth of another son, Benjamin. Yet this promise of life is surrounded by two deaths that remind us that the life of faith in a fallen world is marked by the pain of death. But there is hope as God continues to his covenant faithfulness to Jacob.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
HEAD: QUESTIONS AIMED AT OUR MINDS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND GOD’S WORD.
What does Jacob do in response to God’s call (verses 2-3)? Why is this so important?
How does God’s confirmation of the covenant with Jacob pick up on things God has said to Abraham and Isaac, as well as on God’s words to Adam and Eve in Chapter 1 of Genesis?
HEART: QUESTIONS AIMED AT OUR AFFECTIONS TO HELP US LOVE GOD
Jacob was a sinner, yet he is growing in his faith. What marks of spiritual maturation do you see in this passage? What marks of spiritual maturation do you see in your own life?
This chapter contains many common themes we see throughout Genesis. There is spiritual faithfulness (Jacob), and grievous sin (Reuben). There is life (Benjamin), and death (Deborah, Rachel, and Isaac). And there is the hope of God’s covenant promise to build a nation from whom salvation will come. How might these themes build our hope and stir our affections for God?
HANDS: QUESTIONS AIMED AT OUR HANDS TO HELP US LIVE FOR GOD (PERSONALLY, COMMUNALLY, AND MISSIONALLY)
Read Genesis 35:2 again. Now read Ephesians 4:20-24. What idols and vestiges of the old self do you need to “put away” and “put off”?
How does the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus purify us and empower us to put away idolatry?