Put Away the Foreign Gods

Put Away the Idols

☐

Before Jacob's family went up to Bethel to worship, Jacob told them, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments” (Genesis 35:2).

What is an idol? In Jacob's day, idols were little statues of made-up gods. Rachel had even stolen her father's household idols (31:19). People hoped these gods would protect them or bring them good luck.

Idols today. Most of us do not keep statues. But an idol is anything we love, trust or want more than God. Paul says that greed, wanting more and more, is a kind of idolatry: “covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). An idol can be a game, money, being popular, or even a good thing that has taken God's place.

God first. God's first command is, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). God does not want part of our hearts. He wants all of them, because He made us and loves us.

A family that needed to change. Jacob's family belonged to God's promise, but they still had idols. Being part of a Christian family or going to church does not mean our hearts are free of idols. We all need to check.

Leave them behind. The family gave up their idols, and Jacob buried them under a tree at Shechem (35:4). They did not take them along just in case. Putting away an idol means really letting it go.

Others did the same. Centuries later, at the very same place, Joshua told Israel, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel” (Joshua 24:23). Samuel said it too (1 Samuel 7:3). God's people have always needed to hear it.

Why idols disappoint. Idols promise a lot and give very little. A toy breaks, money runs out, popularity disappears, and a statue cannot hear a prayer. Only God can give what our hearts really need: forgiveness, love that never ends, and a home with Him forever. That is why loving Him first is not a loss but the best way to live.

Jesus sets us free. We cannot clean our hearts by ourselves. But Jesus died for our sins and rose again, and He gives us new hearts. The Christians in Thessalonica “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

What it means for you. Ask God to show you if anything has become more important to you than Him. Tell Him about it, and ask Him to help you put it in its right place. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

In Genesis 35:2-4 Jacob's household gets rid of its idols before going up to worship. It is a short passage, but an important one.

The idols. Elohei hannekar (say: eh-loh-HAY hah-neh-KAR), “gods of foreignness,” included Rachel's stolen teraphim (31:19), small household figures probably associated with protection or inheritance, and perhaps images among the spoil of Shechem (34:29). Whatever they were, they had no place in a family going to meet the living God.

The pattern. The same call recurs at decisive moments: Joshua at Shechem (Joshua 24:23), Samuel at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:3). Each time renewal of covenant requires putting away rival gods. Exodus 20:3 sets the principle: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Idols today. Idolatry is not only an ancient problem. Colossians 3:5 calls covetousness idolatry, and Jesus' “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24) applies the principle to wealth. An idol is whatever claims the trust and devotion that belong to God.

The burial. Jacob “hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem” (35:4). The idols are not taken to Bethel, not kept in reserve, not sold. Repentance that keeps a way back to the idol is not yet repentance.

Outward and inward. Washing and changing garments (35:2) are outward signs. Ezekiel 36:25-26 promises the inward reality only God can give: “I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart.”

Where it happened. The burial was “by Shechem,” the city where Abraham first built an altar in the land (12:6-7) and where the family had just suffered and sinned (Genesis 34). Joshua's later covenant at Shechem, under “the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord” (Joshua 24:26), may well be at the same spot. Either way, Shechem becomes a place associated with choosing between God and the gods, and Bethel with the presence of God.

Fulfillment. Paul describes conversion in exactly these terms: “you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). The turning is made possible by Christ, whose death and resurrection cleanse and renew.

Application. You can test your own heart for idols with three questions: What do I most fear losing? What do I turn to for comfort before I turn to God? What would I be most angry to have taken away? The answers are not always idols, but they show where idols are likely to grow.

The God Who Answers

☐

When Jacob explained why the family was going to Bethel, he said, “I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone” (Genesis 35:3).

The day of distress. Jacob was thinking about the worst day of his life. He had tricked his father and brother, and he was running from home, alone and afraid. That night at Bethel, God came to him.

God answered. God did not wait for Jacob to be good. He spoke to him in a dream and promised, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go” (28:15). Jacob did not deserve that answer. It was grace.

All the way. Jacob also says God “has been with me in the way which I have gone.” Twenty years with Laban, a frightening meeting with Esau, trouble at Shechem: God was there for all of it. The road was not easy, but it was never lonely.

Call on Him. God makes the same offer to us: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). A psalm writer said, “In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me” (Psalm 120:1).

A very present help. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). “Present” means right here. God is not far away when we are struggling.

Jesus is with us. Before He went back to heaven, Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

When prayers feel unanswered. Sometimes we pray and things do not change right away. Jacob waited twenty years to go home. God's answers do not always come quickly or in the way we expect. But God never stops being with His people, and He always does what is good.

Telling what God has done. Jacob told his whole family how God had answered him. Telling others how God has helped us is a way of thanking Him, and it helps others trust Him too.

What it means for you. When you are worried, pray. Paul says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Then remember a time God helped you before, and tell someone about it.

Genesis 35:3 is Jacob's testimony, spoken to his household before they go up to worship. It sums up his life with God in two clauses.

“Who answered me.” The verb anah (say: ah-NAH) means “answer,” and an answer usually follows a cry. We do not read of Jacob praying before the vision at Bethel; he simply ran from home and slept on the ground with a stone for a pillow (28:11). God answered the fear in his heart before Jacob put it into words. God made the first move.

“In the day of my distress.” Yom tsarati recalls 27:41-45 and 28:10-22. The Psalms use the same vocabulary: “In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me” (Psalm 120:1); “Call upon Me in the day of trouble” (Psalm 50:15).

“Has been with me.” The second clause answers the vow of 28:20, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going,” almost word for word. Jacob is acknowledging, publicly, that God has kept His side.

Presence, not ease. Jacob does not claim God gave him an easy road. His years included deception, hard labor (31:38-40), fear and grief. The promise was presence. Psalm 46:1 frames it the same way: God is “a very present help in trouble,” not an exemption from it.

Waiting. The answer to Jacob's distress unfolded over decades. The vow at Bethel looked forward to a return “in peace” (28:21) that took more than twenty years. If you pray and see no change right away, remember that many testimonies in Scripture are spoken looking back. Jacob could say “has been with me” only after the road was walked.

Testimony before worship. Jacob speaks of God's faithfulness before the household reaches the altar. Remembering what God has done is part of preparing to worship Him.

Christ the presence of God. God's presence comes to us most fully in Christ, who promises, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20), and in the assurance, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Application. Philippians 4:6-7 turns the pattern into practice: prayer “with thanksgiving,” and the promise that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Try writing down one “day of distress” when God helped you, and share it with someone, as Jacob did. If you do not have a story like that yet, or if you are in a hard season right now, Jacob's words are a promise to trust, not a feeling you must already have. The God who was with Jacob in the way he went is with you in the way you are going, and one day you will be able to look back and say so.

📖

Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.