(Gen 35 NKJV)  "Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."

 

"Arise, go up to Bethel”  -- It’s time to get back on track with God.  Sometimes we need that:  Time to get back with God.

 

“and make an altar there to God,”  That which is worth something requires sacrifice.  God is worth everything, and he requires sacrifice.

 

“when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."  -- He’s the God of the fox hole, but He wants to be remembered in the good times as well.

Jacob understands what God is saying:  It’ time to get back with God.  He becomes the spiritual leader that he should be:

 

(Gen 35:2) And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.

 

“Be clean, and change your garments” - Personal or outward purification, as emblematical of the sanctification of the soul, has been in use among all the true worshippers of God from the beginning of the world.

 In many cases the law of Moses more solemnly enjoined rites and ceremonies which had been in use from the earliest ages. “A Hindoo considers those clothes defiled in which he has been employed in business, and always changes them before eating and worship.” - Ward.

 

Jacob had many faults, but he had some very good points as well.  Notice his response to God:

 

(Gen 35:3) "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."

 

"Then let us arise and go up to Bethel;”

Bethel had a long history.  In the days of Abraham:

 

(Gen 12:7-8 NKJV)  "Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. {8} And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD."

 

There was something special about Bethel for Jacob also:

 

(Gen 28:19-21 NKJV)  "And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. {20} Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, {21} "so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God."

 

God reminded him of this vow:

 

(Gen 31:13 NKJV)  "'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.'""

 

Now it’s time to get back to Bethel, and God reminds him of that, So Jacob makes preparation to return to Bethel:

 

{4} So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem. (Gen 35:5) And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

 

The terror of God - A supernatural awe sent by the Almighty, was upon the cities that were round about, so that they were not molested in their departure. This could be owing to nothing less than the especial providence of God. – Adam Clarke

 

 

(Gen 35:6)  So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. {7} And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

 

 

(Gen 35:8) Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.”  [the oak of weeping]

 

 

(Gen 35:9) Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. {10} And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel.

 

 

(Gen 32:28 NKJV)  "And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.""

 

(Gen 35:11) Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty.

 

(1)     Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you,

(2)     and kings shall come from your body.

(3)     {12} "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land."

 

(Gen 35:13) Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. {14} So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. {15} And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

 

(Gen 35:16) Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. {17} Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also." {18} And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. {19} So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). {20} And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day. {21} Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

 

 

(Gen 35:22) And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard about it.

 

Not much is said here, but Israel certainly made a note of what had happened:

(Gen 49:3-4 NKJV)  ""Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. {4} Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it; He went up to my couch."

 

(Gen 35:22b) Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: {23} the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; {24} the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; {25} the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; {26} and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

 

 

(Gen 35:27) Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.

(Gen 35:28) Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. {29} So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him."

 

Esau and Jacob buried him.

 

Apparently, a real peace had been made between Jacob and Esau as they come together to bury their father.

 

The death of Rebekah is not told.

 

A great thought of the chapter:

 

Back to Bethel:

 

God’s blessings followed.

 

 

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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