Genesis 35:5

New International Version

Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

For Meditation

The protection of the Lord. How absolute and impenetrable. Satan knows it and gets frustrated around you. Unfortunately, the people of God do not have that intimate faith in this truth, one pillar of our Christian faith. The common saying is true: if you do not know your authority, someone can use it against you. Because Christians do not know the absolute protection God has thrown around us, the enemy uses that lack of knowledge to put fear in us.

Jacob was a man who sat on the edge most of his early life. His deceptive dealings with his brother Esau sent him running for his life to his uncle in Haran. God was with Jacob and was protecting him, but he did not know until God revealed Himself to him in a dream at Bethel (Genesis 28:10-22).

Fourteen years later, Jacob was on the run again, this time from Laban. He did not know how God had protected him from his uncle (31:29-31).

Fear gripped Jacob when he prepared to meet Esau, his brother. However, God had gone ahead of him and made peace between the two feuding brothers (32:1-33:17). Jacob’s elaborate protection plan meant nothing in the face of Esau’s cordial reception.

In today’s passage, we read about his two children, Simeon and Levi who had done the unimaginable to endanger Jacob and his family by slaughtering all the males of Shechem for raping their sister Dinah (34:1-31). Again, God appeared and assuaged his worries and instructed Jacob what to do (35:1). The man had learned enough about the God of His fathers, Abraham and Isaac, to consecrate his family for the journey to Bethel in obedience to God (2-4).

Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns around them so that no one pursued them (5).

When you have learned enough about God to trust Him and give away all the things you hold on to as your strength and safety, God throws His perfect protection around you and makes you secure among your enemies. He throws His terror on all the surrounding enemies in Christ so that none can pursue or touch you.

Psalm 91:1-16 is a perfect testimony to the protection of God around His obedient children.

He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge … A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand by your right hand, but it will not come near you (4-7).

His protection is absolute around the righteous, as Satan confessed in Job’s case (Job 1:10).

So, rest in this exalted promise this week, and let the glory of the Lord shine through your total submission and obedience to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All glory and honor rise to Him forever, amen.