This Bible study is all about the choice of pleasing God or man.
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Do you struggle with your human nature getting in the way of pleasing God? So did many of the patriarchs of the Bible. Read below to see how they overcame and were able to please God in different circumstances.
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Read about the difficult choice of pleasing God in every situation, before reflecting on it below.
Genesis 34-36
Set apart for God
Jacob decided to settle close to a city who served many gods – mainly their own passions – instead of going completely into the promised land. As a result of Jacob’s disobedience, his daughter, Dinah, went out to visit the women of the land. She sought to be like the women of the world.
Dinah wanted to be like the world, yet God calls us to be set apart. Do you find yourself pulled in by our culture? How are some ways you can ensure you are set apart for God (Romans 12:2)?
Related Post: Embrace the Journey | Bible Journaling Through Genesis
Pleasing God or Man
When Dinah’s brothers heard what had happened to her, they convinced Hamor and Schecem to circumcise all their men so that they could intermarry. Simon and Levi had already hatched a deceptive plan – a trait learned from watching their father – and when all the men were in pain from the circumcision, they went in and killed them and plundered their towns. When Jacob heard this, he was not upset because of the sin that had been committed, but because he was afraid of the retribution of the other Canaanites. No one consulted God through this entire encounter; they were more focused on human wisdom and pleasing themselves than they were about doing what is right and pleasing God.
Have you gone through situations in your life where you did not consult God? What was the result (James 1:5)?
Anything that does not please God needs to go
In Genesis 35, God appeared to Jacob in a dream and told him to move back to Bethel. So Jacob gathered his family and told them to get rid of all the foreign gods in their house – anything that was not pleasing to the God of Israel had to go. In the same way, we need to examine our own lives and the things we keep close. If they get in the way of our relationship with God, they need to go.
Is there anything in your life that needs to be examined and removed? What common things get in the way of your relationship with God? Whether social media, relationships, sports, school, jobs, or something else, how can you prioritize God and make Him first (Matthew 10:38)?
Pleasing God in our identity
On the journey to the place God was calling them, God again appeared to Jacob and gave him the same blessing He had given not long before, saying: “Your name is Israel, not Jacob.” God had to again remind Israel of his true identity, just as God is constantly reminding us that we are a new creation in him.
Jacob had to be reminded that he was Israel in God. What is your identity in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)?
Praise to God for unlikely unlikely descendants
Genesis 35:22 tells us that Jacob’s son, Ruben, slept with his father’s concubine. Jacob’s first three sons all committed such terrible, shameful acts. Even though it is usually the firstborn son that inherits the fathers’ blessing and promises, it would be the fourth son, Judah, through whom the messiah would come. And indeed Judah means “praise to God”.
Why do you think it is that God chose the fourth born son to become the line of the messiah (Revelation 5:5)?
Blessings in God
Genesis 36 tells the genealogy of Esau and shows what a blessed man he was. Even though he did not receive the Abrahamic covenant, he had many material blessings as well as a large family. God blessed him even though he was not the chosen one to be blessed. If that is how God treats those who do not turn to him, how much more does he show his grace to those of us that do?
What are some ways that God has blessed you (Psalm 32:1)?
Reflect on pleasing God in every situation
Do you try to please God in every situation, or is He more of an afterthought? How can you please God today (Ephesians 5:8-10)?
