Bibledoorajar Compares Sparkling Jewelry

     When God told Jacob to arise and to return to Bethel, the house of God, he required the women to shed their elaborate jewelries. As evidence that this particular jewelry his family was wearing was associated with superstitious behavior, we see Jacob burying it under an oak tree in Shechem prior to their moving out. This scene is further evidence of how far the family had moved away from embracing Elohim as their only Source. Historians have unearthed many of these amulets over the years and have been able to trace their use in appealing to various gods or to the warding off of evil spirits. Don't want an evil spirit to go up your nose? Put a nose  ring on and wallah safety has come! In Jesus's time the men wore little boxes(philacteries) on their foreheads with holy scripture in them as an anti-venom of the more evil adornments present in their societies.
     The Bible speaks often about our God adorning His people with layers of beauty. It becomes our task to remember the spiritual adornments that He has given us and to not to be concerned with giving power to the  physical or material substance around us. God told Jacob: go back to Bethel to the place where Jacob had seen Him and build an altar there. There is in this statement similar tones as to that found later in the first of the Ten Commandments: no gods before Me. It was this searing command that prompted Jacob to get to burying.
    I remember one young man who had been raised in God's ways by a church going family. But as he matured and mingled with the world, he trusted more and more the things of the world. He had certain books, and certain music--all designed to help him cope with life. When the Spirit prompted him to return to "Bethel" he built a fire and burned all the books and music that had led him away from the One true God. He's older now and he has never looked back, but has continuously pursued the adornments of God. To be with him is a pleasure because it is a time to share the spiritual gifts with which we have been adorned. It is a reminder of where we are to place our faith and our trust: it is a reminder that His adornments sparkle with greater intensity than any thing we could place upon our bodies.