Genesis 35 — Thoughts
The 2 Steps of Repentance
We've all seen the cartoons of bearded doomsday prophets in long robes carrying signs that say, "Repent! The end is near!" It's a goofy image, but it makes me wonder: How many people actually know what "repent" means?
This story gives us a pretty good example.
There are two aspects of repentance, two steps that must be taken for a person to actually repent:
Turning away from sin.
Turning toward God.
We see Jacob do the first step in this story when he demands that his household bring him all their foreign gods so he can bury them. Idolatry is at the heart of all sin because sin always puts something else in the place of God — often, that something is ourselves. (I wrote a little about this in my second post on Genesis 31.)
Then, we see Jacob do the second step of repentance when he sets up an altar to God. He is confirming the Lord as the object of his worship, the focus of his hope and trust.
It wouldn't have been true repentance if Jacob had buried the idols but paid no mind to God. And it wouldn't have been repentance if Jacob had built an altar to God but held on to his household's idols. Both steps needed to be taken.
And so, we see Jacob turn away from foreign idols and toward the true, living God — a powerful picture of true repentance.
If there's something in your life you need to repent of today, make sure you take both steps. Give up the sin you've been clinging to. Then go to God, and seek Him with all your heart.
(Originally written August 13, 2020)