Bury That Junk!

Nov. 21

Read: Genesis 35

Bury That Junk!

“So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” (v.2,3)

There is no room for “co-mingling” God’s people with other gods. We have a very “weak” understanding of the reality that God created other “elohims” or “gods” that were banished and assigned to this world. (cf. Psalm 82) They deceive humans and seek to absorb worship that rightfully belongs only to God Most High. These “gods” do indeed have “power”, but are subordinate to God Most High… paling in comparison to God The Creator of all things. These “gods” are created beings, under God’s authority whether they like it or not. The reality is that these “gods” rule over the other peoples of the earth… and God’s people (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.) were often tempted to try and co-opt them for themselves. (cf. Deut. 32:8,9) We see this with Rachel stealing her dad's (Laban’s) household god. (Gen. 31:19) This temptation remains today. We look at the “gods” of this world and are tempted to try and “steal them”… bring them along with us… trying to absorb some of their “earthly power” as our own. This will never end well for us!

You cannot “enter the land” God is calling you to while you are still trying to smuggle other “household gods” with you. Jesus says it plainly: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matt 6:24; and Mammon would be a great example of a competing god.) This is why Jacob calls his family to “put away”, “purify”, and “change garments”. (v.2,3)

There are so many ways… so many avenues… that the gods of this world have influence on the people of God. We don’t really realize they are creeping in. We don’t even realize the ways we have taken hold of them. Notice what Jacob does after he challenges his family:

"So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.” (v.4)

These rings, amulets, idols, etcetera were not the gods themselves but represented tethers or connections to these gods. The gods of this world use things in this world to link us up to them… to remind us of them… to manipulate us. We might think that the proverbial “gold rings in our ears” are meaningless… but SOMETIMES they are actually a point of contention between us and God - they are actually a link to another god. These ancients didn’t think that these little idols were the actual gods, but that they were links / portals / tokens that gave them the power of their respective gods. How often do we expect that certain “things” give us “power”… the power to be loved, or listened to, or revered…those are just a few off the top of my head! You know what? We need to bury that junk!

God is calling us to cloth ourselves with our new identity in Christ! Like Jacob to his family - Christ has purified us, and we are putting on these “new garments” in HIM! Just look:

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Rom. 13:14)

“…for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:26,27)

“…put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:22-24)

“…put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Col. 3:9)

Time and time again God Most High is calling us away from these other gods to himself! he is calling us to be cleansed in Christ, and to put on these new “garments”. Let us dig a hole and throw this other junk straight into it! Bury it… get rid of it… toss it out. We are not fit to enter into “Bethel”… to enter into the place where we see God and experience him… while we are still holding onto these gods.

How do we BOLDLY do this? Here is the key: We trust (like Jacob) that “God answers us in the day of our distress and has been with us wherever we have gone.” Jacob was finally ready to bury the rest of it and double down on GOD being the one who would be with him in his distress and with him wherever he goes. The rest of this stuff was a distraction… lesser powers… just plain weak. This is what God is doing through his people: He is putting on display his POWER and GOODNESS… his NEARNESS… KINDNESS. We don’t need to “stack the deck” with these “foreign gods”! Let them go! Enter the land clothed in CHRIST. Love you guys. - JDP