Sons of Israel

January 19, 2026

Livestock, Boils, and Hail

Exodus 9:1–35

Three more plagues. Each one is more severe than the one before. And though Pharaoh seeks relief from the consequences of his refusal to let Israel go, he does not repent of his actions.

Being sorry for the consequences of our bad behavior/choices is not the same as being sorry for our bad behavior/choices. Everyone’s sorry when punishment/judgment comes. That’s just no fun. But being sorry for the bad behavior/choices… that’s the kind of sorrow that leads to repentance. Regretting not that I got caught, but that my actions negatively impacted others. Regretting that my actions caused others to stumble or reflect my own disobedience toward the LORD. That’s what we call repentance. Super important for both believers and unbelievers.

For believers, repentance allows us to restore our fellowship with the LORD when we’ve blown it. And with each other. Not a heaven/hell thing, but a relationship thing.

For unbelievers, repentance leads to salvation. It’s the recognition that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. And then from there, it’s believing that Jesus is the Savior whom God promised. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death. He was raised to life on the third day, proving that He had conquered both sin and death, so that by believing in Him we can be saved, not because of anything that we have done, but because of what Jesus did. The Innocent who died for the guilty so that the guilty could be declared innocent.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Exodus series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

October 4, 2014

October 4 – Weekend Passage

Genesis 35

Jacob Moves to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; 3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

5 As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.

Jacob Is Named Israel

9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him.10 God said to him,

“Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name.”

Thus He called him Israel. 11 God also said to him,

“I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. 12 “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”

13 Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. 14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor. 17 When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.” 18 It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).20 Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. 21 Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22 It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it.

The Sons of Israel

Now there were twelve sons of Jacob— 23 the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, then Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun; 24 the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; 25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali; 26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

27 Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29 Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)