OUR FATHER WHOSE GUIDANCE GIVES US THE STRATEGY TO AVOID CALAMITY

Genesis chapter 35 verse 4 says this;

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.

Jacob, asked all the people in his household to surrender their house idols and earrings to him and he buried them under an oak tree.

This action was predicated by a command that Jacob received from the Lord to go and settle in Bethel and build an altar to God there. The preparations to do so included the gathering and burying of all foreign idols and earings that members of Jacob's family possessed.

The result of doing this purge of foreign gods was that, as Jacob and his people travelled, a dread of God filled the towns all around them and no one dared to pursue them.

The reason that they were likely to be pursued was  that Jacob's sons had retaliated against the Hivites who had  defiled their sister and they killed every male of that group.

When Jacob heard of this, he was afraid that the people in whose land they sojoured would unite against him and destroy him.

He was then led to carry out a spiritual exercise where he cleared his whole household  of idols and earrings  and buried them. This brought an atmosphere of dread in all the towns around them and Jacob's family and the people with him were able to travel to Bethel without being attacked.

The leading of the Lord provides the means of avoiding catastrophe when danger looms over us.

Amen.