Introduction

I’ve always enjoyed reading biographies. There’s something fascinating about seeing the arc of a person’s life. All those small and big events that made them what they are.

Biographies make you realize that people are a combination of the times in which they live—and how they faced those times.

You realize that seeing the whole life is important. If you were to freeze a biography in the middle, it would be deceiving. A chapter of a person’s life can look one way, but as you keep reading, sometimes the person is vindicated.

The book of Genesis is a book of several biographies. For several people you see them at the beginning, middle, and end of their lives. It’s seeing the whole arc that reveals things—What kind of life did they live? What was their legacy? Does their life show the grace of God or the rewards for integrity?

At one level, their lives aren’t about their lives at all. There’s a larger work of redemption God is doing. He is bringing about his solution to the problem of sin, and it will take several thousand years to get from the Garden to Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who is the promised seed of Eve who will crush the head of the serpent who is Satan (Gen 3:15). The lives in Genesis are part of that unfolding story.

But the apostle Paul tells us that these lives are “examples to us” (1 Cor 10:6) to show us how to live. The book of James uses OT people to teach us how to live. Throughout Genesis Moses drops clues to tell us, be like this, don’t be like this.

The legacy we leave behind?

John Currid:

The truth—and this may sound shocking—is that almost every important church doctrine is found in ‘seed’ form in the book of Genesis.
John Currid, Genesis[1]

“These are the generations of” formula in Genesis. When we see that, it’s like a chapter title. Moses telling us he’s in a new section.

Now these are the generations of Terah. (Gen 11:27)

These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. (Gen 25:19)

These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). (Gen 36:1)

These are the generations of Jacob. (Gen 37:2)

When you see that, you’re going to learn about the person’s children. Terah’s child is Abraham. Isaac’s child is Jacob. For “the generations of Jacob,” we learn about Jacob’s sons in more detail, especially Joseph.

Our passage occurs at the end of “the generations of Isaac,” the end of the portion focusing on Jacob. After this Jacob’s sons the focus.

Picking up where Philip left off two weeks ago. He unpacked for us the transformation of Jacob. And closed with thoughts on worship. This morning we start at the end of that transformation, begin with the emphasis on worship.

Sermon: The legacy you leave behind. Let it be one of (1) Worship, (2) Integrity, (3) and Faith.

I. Worship (35:1–15)

We start with worship. Let the legacy you leave behind be one of worship—the worship of the true God as he has truly revealed himself.

And just as in these verses, God is the INITIATOR, God speaks first, so in our worship, God speaks and acts first. We worship him only because he has revealed himself to us.

Verse 1 – “Go up to Bethel,” make altar “to the God who appeared to you whn you fled from your brother Esau.” In other words, fulfill your vow.

His vow back in chapter 28, fleeing from Esau, having seen a ladder going up to heaven:

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” (Gen 28:20-22)

God was with Jacob for those 20 years in Haran with Laban. He returned with eleven sons and a daughter, with livestock and wealth.

But instead of coming back to Bethel, he stopped in Shechem in Gen. 33:18. The delay has consequences that are disastrous (Simeon, Levi, Dinah in chap 34).

Now God is saying to come back all the way. Shechem is not far from Bethel, maybe 20 miles. But Shechem is not Bethel.

Verses 2–4 – To worship the true God you must reject all false gods. They still have their gods.

Verse 3 – Jacob testifies of God’s blessings. Note the revelation of God here. It’s personal. It’s an active grace. God reveals himself more and more throughout Genesis. Jacob’s revelation of God here is greater than what we find with Abel or Enoch or Noah.

Verse 4 - Notice what Moses is saying about these false gods here: “Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem” (Gen 35:4). The true God makes forests. False gods you can hide under a tree.

Verse 5 – God’s protection – “As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.”

Verses 6–7 – Jacob gets to Bethel and builds an altar. Notice the name of it, though. “He built an altar and called the place El-Bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother” (Gen 35:7).

Bethel means “house of God.” When he encountered God there before he was affected by the place. He thought the place was special.

But now he knows better. Now he knows it’s not the place that’s the big deal, but God. So now he names the place, “El-Bethel,” which means the God of Bethel.

Verse 9 – Then God reveals himself to Jacob again. In an act of undeserved grace and abundant kindness. God speak the most extensive promises to Jacob yet.

• Verse 10 – a new name – “Israel” and not “Jacob.” Emphasis now on the names and not their meaning. Taking away the negative connotation of “Israel” as wrestling with God.” Now simply the name.
• Verse 11 – God reveals himself in same words as to Abraham in Gen. 17:1 – “I am El Shaddai,” “God Almighty.”
• Verse 11 – restates creational blessing – “Be fruitful and multiply”
• Verse 11 – nations from you
• Verse 11 – “kings shall come from your own body” – spoken to Abraham in 17:16. Of Sarah, “kings shall come from her.”
• Verse 12 – the land – land promised to Abraham and Isaac given to “you” and “your offspring after you.”

Jacob’s response of worship

• Verse 14 – “a pillar,” “a pillar of stone”
• Verse 14 – “He poured out a drink offering on it”
• Verse 14 – “He...poured oil on it”
• Verse 15 – Restatement of “Bethel” as the name of this place, but without such an emphasis on the place itself.

Application: Worship

Let your legacy be one of worship. God has revealed himself: Worship him!

Speak and sing and live in such a way that you are declaring God’s greatness.

Worship is to do what Psalm 29 tells us, “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name” (Ps 29:2).

We do that with our words and songs and lives. His glory is above all things. He is worthy above all things.

II. Integrity (35:8, 16–29)

Read Genesis 35:16–29.

In Genesis, Moses connects legacies and integrity. Our legacy is impacted by our choices and attitudes and our relationship with God. God raises up those who walk in integrity, and he lowers those who oppose him.

Our passage lets us compare different legacies.

We can start with what is said about the women. In this chapter Rachel dies while giving birth to Benjamin. It is a tragic moment. She had been unable to have children for years and then in Gen. 30:22, it says that God heard her prayers and she had Joseph. His name is a prayer that Yahweh would add to her another son.

She has Benjamin as they journey from Bethel to Hebron. She dies in childbirth. Yet, her death is handled with great honor. Jacob set up a “pillar over her tomb,” still visible when Moses was writing (Gen 35:20). In fact, the tomb is mentioned by the prophet Samuel in 1 Sam 10:2. The attention given to Rachel fits who she is, the beloved wife of Jacob.

And we read of another woman’s death in Gen. 35:8. Deborah is “Rebekah’s nurse. He death, too, is treated with great honor. She is beloved and so when they bury near an oak tree, that oak tree is called “the oak of weeping” (Allon-bacuth in Hebrew).

But the death of these two women and the honor give to them is a great contrast to the death of another woman, Rebekah. Rebekah’s death is never mentioned. In fact, after her scheming to have Jacob receive the blessing and go to Haran to find a wife at the beginning of chapter 28, she is never presented as saying or doing anything. She is absent from the scene.

Jacob in Gen. 49:29–33 will mention that she’s buried with Isaac in the same cave as Rachel. But that’s her only mention.

This is part of a pattern in Genesis. Moses will at times go silent about a person when there is a question of their integrity. It’s a subtle form of rebuke. So, Rebekah is minimized, because her actions are questionable.

We see the same thing with Isaac. Isaac doesn’t thrive spiritually. He receives God’s blessing, and he passes it along to Jacob in chapter 28. But that’s the last word or deed recorded about Isaac.[2] He’s probably around 100 years old when he blesses Jacob, and he’ll live to be 180 (Gen 35:29). But there’s total silence about anything he said or did.

He actually lives until Joseph is elevated in Egypt, but through all that family turmoil, silence.[3] At the death of Isaac there’s no fatherly blessing given to Jacob and Esau.

Isaac and Rebekah have a legacy in the family line of promise. They did what needed to be done for the family line to continue—but it seems little more. So, Moses simply passes over most of his adult life.

Then there’s the legacy of Reuben. Reuben is the firstborn child of Leah and is Jacob’s oldest child.

But when Rachel dies he sleeps with his father’s concubine Bilhah—who is also the mother of two of his half-brothers (Dan and Naphtali). This was a disrespectful and sinful act. He probably did it to make sure that his mother Leah would keep her place of honor, since Bilhah was Rachel’s servant. But the act was wrong, so much so that Reuben himself will effectively disqualify himself from being the honored firstborn.

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch! (Gen 49:3-4)

Reuben in this chapter lost his “preeminence.” In Genesis 34, that we skipped over, Simeon and Levi lost their “preeminence.” So, by the time you get to the end of Genesis 35, the next in line is Judah. It will be Judah that is esteemed and preeminent when you get to Jacob blessing his sons in chapter 49.

Application: Integrity

Let your legacy be one of INTEGRITY.

In some ways, that’s the legacy the patriarch Abraham leaves behind. Not one of perfection but one of integrity.

But not his grandson Jacob. Jacob’s legacy is the next best thing. But the next best thing to having a legacy of INTEGRITY is to leave behind one of GROWTH.

My mother died in 2021. Much of her life was spent in churches where not much was taught about discipleship. Bible-reading was not a part of her life.

But in her mid-60s she joined a women’s group in her church, and one of their practices was to read through the Bible every year. She probably did that a half-dozen times until she had her first stroke. It changed her. Her speech changed. Her understanding of spiritual things changed. Her heart softened in many ways.

For some of us, we might have significant failures and lapses. But it’s not too late to establish a legacy of GROWTH. Of repentance. Of humility. That can be very powerful.

Not perfection, but obedience and integrity. Live life according to God’s Word. Obey what he reveals to you.

You might not find yourself a patriarch in a history book. You might find yourself simply “Rebekah’s nurse.” And yet even as “Rebekah’s nurse,” you will find honor and respect.

The reality of life is that we do leave behind different legacies. But regardless of our legacy, the gospel speaks.

Takes us to our third point...

III. Faith (35:27–29)

Read 35:27–29.

A third aspect of the legacy to leave behind is FAITH. The reason to emphasize FAITH is that this final paragraph emphasizes God’s grace. Grace gets the last word. Our failures and sins are real, but if we belong to God, then grace always gets the last word.

The right response to God’s grace is FAITH.

Let’s look at the GRACE here so we can think about our response of FAITH.

Verse 27 – Jacob returns. Probably around 70ish.

Verse 28 – Isaac dies at 180. The longest living patriarch. Abraham dies at 175, Jacob at 147. Jacob at this point is 120 years old. So, yes, Moses skips over a lot that he will pick up in the next section!

Verse 29 – Here Moses describes Isaac’s death. “Gathered to his people, old and full of days” (35:29) – There’s a hint of an afterlife here.[4] This isn’t a description of a family graveyard.

Similar to Abraham’s own epitaph: “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people” (Gen 25:8).

In other words, this verse is very honoring to Isaac. He is being treated with a similar kind of dignity as was given to Abraham. Isaac will be buried in the same cave as Abraham and Sarah (49:31).

For all his failings and weaknesses, GRACE wins.

Bruce Waltke:

Isaac, in spite of all his shortcomings, dies at a good old age and is gathered to Abraham’s bosom, and Jacob completes his pilgrimage. Some saints soar with wings of eagles, others run, and some only walk; nevertheless, all complete the journey.
Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary[5]

Application: Faith

In response to God’s grace in your life, let your legacy be one of FAITH. Our failures and sins are real. But grace gets the last word. So, trust in the Lord.

If God’s grace is active in our lives, we can walk in total faith.

Conclusion

The legacy you leave behind. In response to God’s revelation and grace, let your legacy be one of (1) worship, (2) integrity, and (3) faith.

First step: Trust in Christ

He’s the Savior of failures, sinners, and hopeless cases. Which means, he’s the Savior of people! There is no other Savior. Trust in him.

Next step: Pursue Christ

What was his secret? He unreservedly committed his life to Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. That friendship meant everything to him. By the flickering light of a peanut-oil lamp, early each morning he and a room-mate in the men’s cramped dormitory studied the Bible and talked with God for an hour.
— David Michell, “I Remember Eric Liddell”[6]

Keep rememebering: “Christ is Mine Forevermore”:

But mine is hope in my Redeemer
Though I fall His love is sure
For Christ has paid for every failing;
I am His forevermore
— “Christ is Mine Forevermore”

 

[1] John Currid, Genesis, 1:15–16.

[2] He has the twins when he’s 60, Esau marries at 40, and it seems that around the time of Esau’s marriage Jacob will go to Haran to find a wife.

[3] Jacob is 130 when he goes to Egypt, and Isaac had died when Jacob was 120. Joseph is elevated in Egypt at 30 years old and sold into slavery at 17.

[4] Kidner, Genesis, 176.

[5] Bruce Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary (Zondervan), 479.

[6] David Michell, “I Remember Eric Liddell,” in Disciplines of the Christian Life by Eric Liddell (Abingdon, 1985), 14.