So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. Israeljourneyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
(Genesis 35:19-21 ESV)
I was reading this a few weeks ago and noticed that this is the first time in the scriptures that Jacob is called Israel personally. There are a couple times before this where God say’s He’s going to call him Israel (Gen 32:28, 35:10). Also a few times that Israel is used in reference to the nation/people to become Israel… but this is the first time HE is actively called Israel (Gen 32:32, 33:20, 34:7).
So, this passage is important, because for the first time we see him referred to by his new name actively. No “will be’s” or generic uses here. The Bible simply calls him Israel and expects it to be normal to us.
Do you see what’s happening in this passage? Rachel has died and Jacob is burying her while on his way to Ephrath.
Rachel was the wife that Jacob loved… he loved her so much that he married her sister just to marry her. He bore a burden just to be with the love of his life. Rachel was very precious to him.
Sometimes, when we’re on our way to fruitfulness (which is what Ephrath is named for), something in our life has to die… usually something very special to us. (Hopefully this is not a person!) I think we can all see how some things have to pass-away for us to pass-on… like High School has to end to start College…
However, to get to the place that we can start receiving the promise that God has given us we must take those dead things and bury them. Once those things are in the ground, we can’t return to them… we remove the obstacles in the way of progress… permanently.
When we hold on to the dead things in the “here” that should have been left “back there” it’s really hard to get “ahead, there”.
This is why the scripture says that we don’t have to continue in sin. Notice it doesn’t say TO sin… because you’re gonna mess up! You will sin… it’s a promise. But, being dead to sin, we can ignore sin like it’s buried in the ground. Not allowing it to master us, enslave us and lord over us. Sin no longer has to direct us. (Romans 6:1-4)
You have a great inheritance ahead of you! God is giving it to you. Focus on that and press on.