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There are several things that are mentioned in this chapter—Jacob’s return to Bethel, a birth, and three funerals. When Jacob was told to go to Bethel, there were three things he wanted his family to do:
- Purify themselves.
- Change their clothes.
- Put away their false gods.
Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died during their journey. She was very old by this time and had served the family well. They loved her and took time to mourn for her and bury her under a tree that they called the tree of weeping. The Bible is full of great heroes of faith, but there are also many common people mentioned who loved God and faithfully served Him in whatever way they could. We should not think that some people are more important than others. We all have something we can contribute.
In this chapter, Deborah died, Rachel died in childbirth, and Isaac died. Both Deborah and Isaac were old, and death was expected, but Rachel’s death was unexpected. Rachel had wanted children so badly and had told Jacob, “Give me children, or I will die.” But in the end, she died from having a child. There is often a burden that goes along with something we really desire.
Sometimes we need to get back to basics.
- We need to eliminate from our lives the things that are not appropriate.
- Sanctification and purification are important.
- We need to eliminate false gods and idolatry and replace that with the worship of God.
Preparation for worship is important. We need a place that is not full of distractions. It is easy to carry distractions into church with us when we think of the week just past or the upcoming week.
We need to be willing to be servants, to be Deborahs. We need to be able to serve even if we think what we are doing is not important.
Jacob dealt with a lot of changes in his life. We all have transitions or changes in our lives, but we must remember that God never changes. He uses all things for our good if we love Him.
How well are we passing on our faith to the next generation? Jesus will return. Are we ready to meet Him?