Daily Devotions
Genesis
"The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." Psalm 119:130
Text: Genesis 35:1-29
THE END OF ANOTHER SPECIAL VISIT FROM THE LORD
How awesome it is to have a visit from the Lord! How humbling to the soul to stand in God’s Presence and to hear His Word! No matter how Jacob wished that the heavenly visit could last forever, it was not to be. The Lord wanted Israel (Jacob) to know that he must make the most out of this visit! The Lord might or might not appear to him in a similar way! He must not expect the Lord to visit him frequently! The significance of this visit must last a lifetime!
“Then God went up from him in the place where
He talked with him.” GENESIS 35:13
It was now up to Jacob to sum up the significance of this special encounter with the Lord! How long this impact would last would depend on how Jacob interpreted and applied its significance! Not many had this privilege of having the Lord speak to them! It would be the height of presumption to think that God would make frequent appearances to any individual!
WORSHIP – THE ONLY LOGICAL RESPONSE
The first time Jacob met with the Lord at Bethel, he offered humble worship! The first encounter with the Lord always leaves a person feeling awed! How did Jacob feel this time? How would he, bearing the name Israe,l respond to the Lord?
“So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him,
a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and
he poured oil on it. And Jacob called the place where God
spoke to him, Bethel.” GENESIS 35:14-15“A pillar of stone” (Cf. Genesis 28:22)
Jacob must have remembered the first time he raised a pillar of stone to commemorate the event – God had spoken to him when he felt afraid and all alone, for he had fled from the presence of his angry brother Esau!
“He poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it…”
We have a glimpse of the simple worship form of the patriarchs. There was no elaborate form of worship at all. The pouring out of a drink offering (a libation) followed by the act of pouring oil on the stone completed the heartfelt worship that Jacob wanted to offer the Lord!
Libation employed water, a symbol of life! Good clean water was never just poured away! Water was always to be treasured. Yet, this treasure was poured out to the Lord.
Oil symbolized sanctification. The place where Jacob worshipped God was to be seen as holy. Bethel literally means “The House of God” and of course His house is holy indeed! Jacob must have stood in humble adoration as he worshipped El Bethel!