But let me invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Genesis. Chapter 35 for a time of study in God's word this morning, Genesis 35, we're doing a verse by verse study through the Book of Genesis, and as we continue in our series this morning, we come to Genesis chapter 35. My goal today is to cover verses 1 through 15. And the title of the message this morning is Jacob Returns to Bethel.
Jacob returns to Bethel. Last Sunday, we Looked at a hard passage, Genesis 34, and it was not by any measure a pretty picture. By the end of Genesis 34, Jacob's family is a mess. His daughter has been raped.
His sons have blood on their hands from the slaughter of every adult male in the city of Shechem. There is division now between Jacob and his sons over how the rape of Jacob's daughter got handled. Jacob's reputation in the land of Canaan is ruined and his testimony for Jehovah is shot. And now Jacob is sure that an attack from the Canaanites is looming, and he expects to be outnumbered and completely destroyed him and his whole household.
On top of that, the events of Genesis chapter 34 exposed the fact that all has not been well with Jacob and his family. Whereas Jacob was spiritually soaring in Genesis 32 and Genesis 33, he has been sliding. In Genesis 34 and in no doubt the weeks and the months leading into that chapter, and Jacob, as a result of that, ends up being virtually a no-show. During a time when his family needed him and his leadership the most....
