Back to the Future (Gen. 35:1-7)

BACK TO THE FUTURE (GENESIS 35:1-7)

In the movie “Back to the Future,” Marty McFly, the character played by Michael J. Fox, paid a visit to his mad scientist friend Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown, who revealed to him that he had built a car powered by plutonium that could act as a time-machine upon reaching 88 miles per hour. Unfortunately, Marty also witnessed his friend’s shooting death at the hands of Libyan terrorists angry at him for stealing plutonium from them. Fleeing the terrorists in Doc’s car, Marty unwittingly sped to 88 miles per hour, transporting him back to his father’s era.

To save Doc was not Marty’s only concern in past time; his own future existence was also jeopardized when his mother had a crush on him instead of his wimpy father. Just when his mother finally fell in love with the right person – Marty’s dad, Marty left in the same car powered this time by a bolt of lightning, but not before leaving Marty a note to warn him of his death, but the idealistic Doc ripped apart the letter, refusing to interfere into history and change the future. On his return to 1985, Marty watched helplessly the same scene as the terrorists shot Doc to death. But to Marty’s relief, Doc was wearing a bulletproof vest, confessing sheepishly he had read the letter after taping it back together.

Jacob had some unfinished business to do. He had to revisit the past to realize the future. So far, God’s relationship with Jacob is terribly one-sided. Jacob was the grabber and never the giver, the beneficiary and never the blessing, the receiver and never the reverse. For Jacob to become Israel, he had to confront his past, trace his path and do his part.

What is the right way to view the past? How should Christians regard what has happened to them before – be it good, bad or ugly? Why is the past not a potent foe but a potential friend?

Be Thou My Vision
Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." (Gen 35:1)

How have you changed twenty years or more later? How are you different (question obviously not meant for teens)?

I have certainly changed after two decades in the United States. Education, work and marriage, in particular and in chronological order, changed me. Off and on, it took me eight years altogether to complete a Masters of Theology degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree. On the pastoral front, I was at two churches - starting an English worship in one and being a solo senior pastor in another. I taught in seminary the last nine years there and was married for more than ten years. Literature and internet ministry (preachchrist.com) also changed me. Becoming a citizen, buying a house, and speaking the language meant I was more integrated and more mainstream than most immigrants.

Like me, Jacob spent twenty long years away from home - in Haran (Gen 31:38), and he seemed to have forgotten a vow he made to God when his mother sent him away to escape his angry brother intent on killing him (Gen 27:42-45). His vow is worth examining once again because Jacob never vowed to reside in Bethel; he only vowed to acknowledge the Lord as his God in word and deed, the latter to be fulfilled in Bethel. Back to Genesis 28:20-22: “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

We are not sure if Jacob had forgotten his vow, but he sure delayed fulfilling it and postponed his return, settling instead in Succoth and then Shechem (Gen 33:17-18). Scholars like Allen Ross believed that “his indifference to those vows provided the occasion for Dinah's defilement by Shechem,” which occurred in the previous chapter. (Bible Knowledge Commentary “Genesis 35:1”) After more than 20 years outside of Bethel, worshipping the Lord in Bethel was an afterthought, out of sight, ought of mind. Jacob had made peace with his father-in-law Laban and with his brother Esau, but he did not make right with God. The difference between the altars of Jacob and his forefathers Abraham (Gen 12:7-8, 13:4, 18, 22:9) and Isaac (Gen 26:25) was that they voluntarily built an altar to the Lord, while Jacob had to be ordered to do so. Sure, he previously built one in Shechem (Gen 33:20) but it was one of convenience, without cost or commitment; it was in his own backyard.

It is in this context that the Lord spoke loudly to Jacob, using four imperatives to catch his attention. There is no precedent in the Bible for a four-fold imperative that begins with the command “Arise,” which is missing in NIV unfortunately. The imperatives are “arise,” “go up,” “settle” and “build” (v 1). The command was so forceful, urgent and intense that it shook him to the core, roused him from his comfort and troubled him to no end. He could not work, rest or sleep. Previously, the Lord also ordered his grandfather Abraham to “arise” in the form of two imperatives: “GO/ARISE, WALK through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” (Gen 13:17) Also, the angels urged Lot to leave Sodom and Gomorrah with two imperatives: “HURRY/ARISE! TAKE your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” (Gen 19:15) The closest yet to Jacob’s vision to “arise” in Genesis is, surprisingly, God’s given orders to a distraught and desperate Hagar fleeing her mistress Sarah: “(ARISE,) LIFT the boy up and TAKE him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation." (Gen 21:18)

It is easy for singles to move but hard for families to move; in fact, many times harder. Not only that. Jacob was “exceedingly” prosperous (Gen 30:43) now, or “very, very” (exceedingly) in Hebrew. Before, he had to worry about food, clothes and safely (Gen 28:20-21); now he owned large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys (Gen 30:43). But God reminded Jacob he was pursued before he was prosperous. The verb “flee” (v 1) occurs an amazing, even astounding, seven times altogether in Jacob’s life (Gen 27:43. 31:20, 31:21, 31:22, 31:27, 35:1, 35:7) including fleeing from his brother and his father-in-law. No other verb defines Jacob quite like “flee.” He fled from the face of his brother (Gen 35:1, 35:7), he fled to Laban (Gen 27:43), he fled with all he had (Gen 31:21), he fled away secretly (Gen 31:27). Jacob was always on the run, running scared, running for cover, running with his tail behind his back.

Be Thou My Victory
2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone." 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. (Gen 35:2-4)

Have you heard of the “Parable of the Pencil”?
In the beginning, the Pencil Maker spoke to the pencil saying, “There are five things you need to know before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and you will become the best pencil you can be.”

First: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.

Second: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but this is required if you want to become a better pencil.

Third: You have the ability to correct any mistakes you might make.

Fourth: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.

Fifth: No matter what the condition, you must continue to write. You must always leave a clear, legible mark no matter how difficult the situation.

The pencil understood, promising to remember, and went into the box fully understanding its Maker’s purpose.

Jacob had a lot to answer for, but he made up for his memory loss and memory lapse in a big way. Note that Jacob, on his own initiative, did something the Lord did not command him to do (v 1): to remove the foreign gods. He was not ordered or forced to give up the idols, but he willingly renounced and removed them. His tone was as determined, decisive and demanding as could be, as demonstrated by the three imperative terms: “get rid,” “purify” and “change” (v 2). It is not all about commands to Jacob. The next two verbs are jussives – come, go up (v 3), which should be translated as “let us come, let us go up.”

To his credit, Jacob is the first person in the Bible to address, attack and arrest the problem of foreign gods or “strange gods.” It is also the first occurrence of the phrase in the Old Testament. Allen Ross says, “God permits no rivals; He allows only single loyalty and no magical charms.”

The earrings (v 4) deserve special mention. Most of the earrings mentioned in the Bible are gold (Gen 24:22, Ex 32:2, 35:22, Judg 8:24, 8:26, Job 42:11, Prov 11:22, 25:12), ranging from half a shekel weight (Gen 24:22) to a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold (Judg 8:26). The New Unger's Bible Dictionary says a shekel is worth ten English pennyweights, and International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia states that a gold shekel is about equal to 2 British pounds and 1 shilling, or about $10,00 (in 1915). (ISBE “gold”)

The first time I speak of gold was in the early 90s when it was above US$200 an oz. The next time I mentioned gold in preaching was in the early 2000s when it was above $500. This is the third time I talked about gold and gold is worth above $1,000 in 2010. One month later it rose another astonishing 100 dollars.

Be Thou My Valor
5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them. 6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. (Gen 35:5-7)

A young soldier who was showing signs of panic on the eve of his first battle was chaffed by a veteran. “Why, sonny,” he said, “you’re shaking with fear. Don’t be such a coward.” “I’m not a coward,” hotly retorted the youth. “If you felt half as scared as I do, you’d run away!” (from Illustrations of Bible Truths # 711)

What is courage? It’s been said, “Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid.” Mark Twain says, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” Arthur Koestler states “Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.”

Jacob had his worries, fears and reasons for not making the trip to Bethel, which is 15 miles from Shechem, according to Allen Ross. In fact, Jacob tried to keep a low profile, stay out of sight and avoid angering his neighbors around Shechem for a reason: Jacob’s sons had caused trouble to him in the previous chapter when they avenged the rape of their sister Dinah by killing Hamor and his son Shechem, looting the city and seizing their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields, carrying off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses. (Gen 34:26-30) Jacob was terrified of the consequences. In his remarks, “You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench 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” (v 30), the words “brought trouble,” “stench,” “few” and “destroyed” make their debut in the Bible. Further, note the mention of cities (plural) – towns in NIV (v 5), and not city.

A shift in family dynamics occurred in the previous chapter. In the previous chapter the “sons of Jacob” make its debut in the Bible. The actions of the “sons of Jacob” tell they are adults, for better or worse: the sons of Jacob “came out” of the field when they “heard” it: and the men were “grieved,” and they were “very wroth” (Gen 34:7, KJV); the sons of Jacob “answered” Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully (Gen 34:13, KJV); and the sons of Jacob “came upon” the slain, and “spoiled” the city, because they had defiled their sister. (Gen 34:27, KJV).

Returning to Bethel was wrought with dangers and consequences, but Jacob was no stranger to being “pursued” (v 5). The same word refers to his father-in-law Laban who took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob for seven days, catching up with him in the hill country of Gilead (Gen 31:24), but he experienced the horror of being pursued this time not by relatives but by strangers. Despite all the dangers and threats, he mustered his courage. This time, to Jacob’s surprise, no one pursued his family because and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them. “Not pursue” occurs only once in the Bible. The word “terror” (v 5) occurs for the only time in the Bible.

Conclusion: To move ahead in life, we have to face and not fear the past. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb 13:8). There is no need to avoid the past or adore it; we have to acknowledge the past and ask the Lord to redeem and renew it for His glory.