Terrified

Terrified

Genesis 35: ⁵ And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

 

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Jacob was terrified that the cities around them would hear about what happened to the people of Shechem. Simeon and Levi murdered all the men of Shechem in revenge to what was done to Dinah. BUT GOD intervened.

 

My Observations:

• The surrounding cities may have remembered what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.
• Terror of GOD fell upon the surrounding cities because Jacob was known to have a relationship with HIM.
• Jacob was full of terror and so were the surrounding cities.

 

Everyone was terrified in this, seemingly, impossible situation. No one had a good solution for moving forward in life. If the surrounding cities tried to retaliate, they might face GOD’s wrath. If Jacob caused any more problems, they could be wiped out.

 

Jacob previously made a promise to the LORD that he had not kept. He promised to offer ten percent of all he had to the LORD. Up to this point, he may not have kept this promise. Now he was terrified. After twenty plus years of making the promise to the LORD, he built an altar.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD describe everyone’s terror to Moses?
• Have you ever been scared of the future?
• Is there a promise you made to the LORD that needs to be fulfilled?