Let's hide them under the terebinth

"Jacob said to his house and to all who were with him : Take away the strange gods that are in your midst ... and Jacob hid them under the terebinth that is near Shechem." Genesis 35. 2-4

The atmosphere is heavy in Jacob's camp, after the rape of his daughter by the son of the governor of Shechem and the violent vengeance of two of his brothers (Gen. 34). But God broke the silence and said to Jacob : "Go up to Bethel ("house of God")". This call sounds like a thunderclap rather than a good news. Of course Jacob knows this God who calls him. But at this time, this call is disturbing, because disorder reigns in the family of the patriarch. God told him nothing more than to go up to Bethel, to live there and to erect an altar there. However Jacob understands that he must remove from his encampment all that does not suit the presence of God. For the first time in his life, Jacob makes the decision to devote himself entirely to the Lord ; he makes "foreign gods" (idolatrous statuettes and earrings) disappear by burying them under a terebinth (Gen. 35: 4).

Could this also be our story ? We have preserved, perhaps for a long time, certain objects, some journals or some doubtful books, some bad practices ... One day, God tells us : "Go to perform such a service, such a mission for me". That's when our eyes open. Without anyone telling us anything, we understand that this or that thing we have tolerated so far is incompatible with the mission God gives us and the sanctification it requires.

Has Jacob lost his purity, he and his own ? On the contrary !

- He experiences the protection of God in a hostile environment (Gen. 35. 5).

- He builds an altar to renew with God his commitment and fulfill the vow he had made in the same place years before (Gen. 28, 20-22).

- He calls Bethel ("house of God") : El-Bethel ("God of the house of God"). It is not only the house of God that he has found, but the God of Bethel.

- He receives the blessing of God (Gen. 35. 9) and a renewed promise concerning a country for his offspring.

So, too, let us remove with determination our "foreign gods" to serve "the living and true God" (1 Thes. 1. 9). Hide them under a terebinth, or better destroy them (Act 19. 19)!

Source (Pleasing the Lord)