Foreword: Full disclosure, there is a message on this site, which I prepared, called “Back to Bethel” in a series about Bethel experiences. This message here is not a rehash of the previous message, but, as both messages are based on the same text, some overlap in probably unavoidable but is definitely unintentional.
Introduction: Jacob had left his home twenty or so years before this event, and had stopped at Bethel for the night. Genesis 28:10-22 has the story. Jacob and the others had stayed at Shalem (Gen. 34) and had faced a disaster. It’s at a time like this when God spoke to Jacob and gave him some encouraging, and needful, words.
1 God’s commands to Jacob
Text: Genesis 35:1, KJV: 1 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.
The previous chapter gives the sad story of how Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, decided to visit the nearby city but was kidnapped and held captive by the ruler’s son. Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s second and third brothers, led a rescue effort and got her back to her family. The reaction, if any, is never recorded in Scripture, nor was what ever happened to Dinah after she was reunited.
Something else not mentioned is this: there is no record that Jacob or any of his sons ever prayed or sought God’s will and guidance for what to do. They took matters into their own hands and could have caused more grief or problems than what they accomplished.
Now God steps in and gives Jacob a few very specific commands, “Go up to Bethel, dwell there, and make an altar to God, Who appeared to you when you fled from Esau, your brother.” We can also see how gracious God is, in that He didn’t chide or chastise Jacob in any way. Chances are, Jacob couldn’t wait to get away from Shalem and might have gone anyplace just to “leave it in his rearview mirror,” to use a recent phrase.
And Jacob took command of the situation, giving commands to his household.
2 Jacob’s commands to his household
Text, Genesis 35:2-4, KJV: 2 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: 3 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. 4 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.
Now Jacob takes the lead, probably one of the few times he found himself in this kind of situation. It’s interesting that Moses records Jacob’s words not only to his household, but also “to all that were with him”.
The first command of Jacob was to “put away the strange [foreign] gods among you”. To review. Jacob’s sons had basically captured all the women and children of Shalem after the revenge raid against Hamor and Shechem (chapter 34). Had any of these people from Shalem converted to faith in the God of Jacob? Or had they kept their idols, of whatever size, in their possession? The text doesn’t say. This would be reason enough for Jacob to command everyone to once and for all get rid of these things. After all, none of these “strange gods” had been able to protect the people of Shalem! Even Laban’s images were not even able to protect themselves from being stolen (before this, Rachel had stolen her father’s “images”, see Gen. 31:31-35)!”
After this, Jacob commanded the people to “be clean”. This phrase is translated “purify yourselves” in several other versions. It’s not certain what would be involved or required to do this, but there is a hint of what they did in verse 4, where the people gave Jacob the idols and the earrings. Jacob hid all of this under the oak near Shechem.
Next, Jacob told the people to “change [their] garments”. The significance of what this really means may be lost or unknown to us but it was very real to the people back then. Some think this was for Jacob’s sons (and, perhaps, others) whose garments might be stained from the raid on the men, or perhaps the people’s garments had become soiled, stained, etc. In Deuteronomy 21, similar procedures were commanded for women taken captive in battle: she was to shave her head, and put away her original garments, while mourning her parents for 30 days. This, however, was not commanded here: the Law of Moses didn’t come into existence for many years in the future.
Finally, and this is more of a plea or exhortation, Jacob asks them to “arise, and go up to Bethel”. He then explained why: he planned to build an altar to God! Jacob no doubt remembered well when he had spent the night at Bethel, twenty or so years before, and had met the LORD at that time (Genesis 28:10-18 has the story). Jacob had built a pillar, which may not have been an altar, at that time but now he was going to announce publicly that he worshiped the One and the Only True God. Those who knew Jacob knew he was speaking the truth of the matter.
The words of Jacob seemed to speak directly to the people with him. They first handed over the “strange gods”; some commentators observed, “the gods of the strangers”. This meant the pagan idols or deities of the Shalemites and anyone else who had these things. These “gods” might have been any size, from similar to figurines measuring only a few inches in height or large enough to be seen from a distance. We may never know the size, but Jacob did, and when the people brought him those things, he promptly got rid of all of those images!
And the same was true of the “. . . earrings . . in their ears”. I didn’t know this but some commentators noted that these earrings could have been shaped like the idols. Talk about devotion to other “gods”—the pagans didn’t only bow down to these images, they kept them truly “up close and personal”! Perhaps the significance of dedicating one’s ears to God is seen when Moses formally presented Aaron and his sons as priests to the LORD (Lev. 8:24).
The idols were gone, the earrings were removed; all of that had now been “hid” under a tree near Shechem. It seems the people had also changed their clothing. Now they were all ready to follow Jacob on the journey (his second) to Bethel, where he had met the LORD.
3 Jacob’s commitment to God’s commands
Text, Genesis 35:5-7, KJV: 5 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. 6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. 7 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.
These last few verses are almost a conclusion in themselves. God had spoken to Jacob, giving him a few specific commands to follow. In turn, Jacob had spoken to his entire household, including those who had come with him along the way plus the survivors of Shalem. They had all become “clean”, they had all handed over their idols and earrings to Jacob, and he had buried them under a tree by Shechem. And that’s where they were probably going to stay unless someone decided to leave Jacob and travel back there. Bethel, the next scheduled stop on Jacob’s journey, was several miles and a few days of travel time away.
Moses wrote that they journeyed, “and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them” I wonder if Jacob remembered his fear of being attacked, once word reached the cities around Shechem or Shalem about what his sons had done to the place (Gen. 34:30-31). This is one thing that maybe he realized, that with the Lord’s guidance and protection, nothing was going to happen to him or his household.
And nothing did happen to him, or his household. Verse 6 says Jacob came to Luz, also named Bethel, he and ALL the people with him. Nothing happened to any of them, either, when he built the altar to the LORD there at Bethel. This must have been a surprise to the pagans or heathen nearby, as they had seen plenty of altars, I’m sure, but all were dedicated to a pagan deity of some kind.
The altars built by the followers of the One True God, though, had little to identify them as anything except altars: no images, few if any priests, and little if any ritual. It’s not said if Jacob offered any sacrifices at this time, but he would certainly have had the right to do so, demonstrating his faith in the God of Jacob.
Jacob, interestingly, called not the altar but the place “Elbethel” meaning, “God, the God of Bethel” because that was where “God appeared unto him”. Whether or not that was the exact spot where Jacob had slept or built the pillar is not known. But what is known is that Jacob knew that he had met God that night twenty or so years before. And he never seemed to get over that.
There was no doubt a lot of joy as the people joined Jacob in the worship of Jacob’s God, the God of Bethel. I can almost imagine Jacob’s heart bursting with joy as he remembered the original meeting with God at Bethel, the communion shared, the promised God had kept, as He had indeed brought Jacob safely back to Bethel. How much the others understood is anybody’s guess, but they surely had to understand that the God of Jacob was greater than any other deity they could have ever known. The journey from Shechem to Bethel was long (I’m guessing 50 miles or so) through valleys, over hills, and past any number of communities. God kept every person safe on that journey, just as He had promised.
Conclusion: Much of this was timely for Jacob, following the command of God to relocate to Bethel. Jacob followed this command, and instructed his household to make some changes before they began this journey from Shalem to Bethel. They did, God blessed, and Jacob confirmed his commitment by building an altar to his God there at Bethel.
Years before, Jacob had fled from his home with nothing but the clothes he wore and the staff he carried. His brother had wanted to kill him but God was going to protect him. God blessed him, and now he has a large household with large flocks and herds of livestock. I doubt Jacob ever forgot all that God had done for him over the years.
You and I do not need to build literal, physical altars—Jesus took care of ALL of this when He died on Calvary. But we can still remember the place where we met the Lord, whether it’s when He saved us or when He met with us in a special way (and, oh, what a blessing that would be). Bethel was a place where Jacob met the LORD for the first time, and that’s where he met the LORD a second time. We can have a Bethel experience anywhere! All we need to do is meet with the Lord and He’ll take care of the rest.
When was the last time any of us had a Bethel experience?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
