Back to Bethel

"And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. (Genesis 35:1-5)

After the slaughter of the Hivites, God again commands Jacob to get up and go. Amazingly, He does so rather gently, even though there is also some rebuke in that He calls for a sacrifice to be made. Jacob has lingered here in Shechem 8 to 10 years by the time the slaughter takes place, making Simeon and Levi somewhere in their very early twenties. Jacob himself had forgotten that he had asked God to return him to his father's home (Genesis 28:20-21), a thing which God is doing even though Jacob has caused much delay (and tragedy) by settling here in Shechem.

Jacob's response to God's command is immediate. And his understanding of the need for the sacrifice is clear. He instructs his entire household, including servants, to gather up any false gods that they have with them. These false gods are in Jacob's household perhaps because Jacob brought with him servants from the land of Mesopotamia where Laban dwelled; and the Mesopotamians superstitiously carried these false gods. And they could be there because of the Hivite plunder that was brought into Jacob's household after the slaughter. But Jacob knows that a cleansing is needed; and he even instructs them all to change their garments as though even the garments touching those idols needs cleansing. Once gathered up, all the false gods, and objects of idol worship which included their earrings; perhaps earrings worn as a sign of slavery to these false gods? All of it was buried under an oak on the land Jacob had purchased when he first arrived in Shechem.

And then they moved on.

But Jacob's fear of vengeance being wrought upon him by the neighboring Cannanites never happened. Instead, all those potentially dangerous neighbors were struck with a terror of God that CAME from God Himself; God once more protecting Jacob along his journey. And so no one pursued Jacob's entourage.

So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel." (Genesis 35:6-15)

Several interesting things happen here.

Jacob does build an altar on which certainly an animal is sacrificed although we are not told of the animal specifically. God even appears to Jacob in a sign of acceptance of that obedient sacrifice made by Jacob, but before He does Rebekah's nurse dies. Here we learn of something we did not know before-hand. Apparently, Rebekah, Jacob's mother, sent her nurse (most likely meaning the servant who helped raise Jacob) along with Jacob when he first left his father's house. So, this woman has been with him all this time and has now died. She must have been in her fifties at least. And she is buried under an oak which was considered to be a sanctified tree. Jacob's affection for this nurse who had been with him his entire life must have been great; for he named the oak "Allonbachuth" or "Oak of Weeping."

Then God appears to Jacob, to talk with him (which indicates a dialogue rather than just a commandment); reiterating Jacob's name change that was given to him during that long-ago wrestling match with the Lord, and confirming once more that He will bless Jacob and multiply his seed (descendants) – even promising that kings will come forth from his bloodline.

And then God "went up from him in the place where he talked with him."

This is very interesting in that when Jesus Christ leaves his disciples (after His death on the cross and resurrection but just before the Day of Pentecost) He also is taken "up" out of their sight….an ascension into heaven (Luke 24:51). There is after all only ONE GOD.

And then Jacob (prophetically, I believe) builds a pillar of stone upon which he pours a drink offering of wine and oil. I see the stone as being prophetic of the Rock of Ages, the corner stone, Jesus Christ; the wine representing the blood that Jesus would one day shed for us; and the oil, His anointing.

Jacob renames the place once more with the same name he had formerly given it: Bethel . " House of God."