Read Genesis 35
Jacob Returns to Bethel
1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.
8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth.
9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.
14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.” 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.
21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.
Jacob had twelve sons:
23 The sons of Leah:
Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel:
Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:
Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:
Gad and Asher.
These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. 29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Go Deeper
Genesis 35 begins with God giving very specific instructions to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” (Genesis 35:1) In the very next verse, Jacob immediately goes to his family and instructs them to do 3 things: Put away the foreign gods that are among them, to purify themselves and to change their garments. Let’s see what we can learn from this list of instructions.
Jacob’s first instruction to his family was to put away the foreign gods that are among you. We know from just a few chapters earlier that Rachel had stolen the household gods of her father (Genesis 31:19). We can assume that Jacob’s entire family had been influenced by chasing these false gods and as a result, they were not reliant on the one true God. Part of Jacob’s obedience to God’s instruction at the beginning of this chapter is to influence his family to do the same. The first step of physically returning to Bethel, and spiritually returning to worshiping God is to rid their family of all the idols and false gods that they have been running to.
Next, Jacob instructs his family to purify themselves. So the immediate instruction after disposing of the idols was to make themselves clean. In Old Testament times, anything considered “unclean” was not fit to be used as a sacrifice in worship to the Lord. The idols that they had been following had made Jacob’s family spiritually unclean. While giving themselves an actual bath would not cleans their sins, it was an outward expression of what was happening inside their hearts. Psalm 51:2 says “Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” The next step in physically returning to Bethel was to spiritually cleanse their hearts.
Finally, Jacob instructs his family to change their garments. Again, Jacob is asking his family to outwardly express what is happening inside of them. Clothing does not have the ability to make us more presentable or attractive to God, but it is a physical change that can symbolize a spiritual change. Ephesians 4:22-24 speaks of this change “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” The final step in physically returning to Bethel was to put on new garments that signify that Jacob’s family has put away their old desires and deceitfulness and they are ready to present themselves as holy and blameless to God.
In our present day walk with Jesus we can learn from these instructions that Jacob gave to his family thousands of years ago. Just as he asked them to put away their foreign gods, we should rid our lives of the temptations and idols in our own lives that are distracting us from faithfully following Jesus. In addition to ridding our lives of those idols, we need to confess our sins and ask God to purify our hearts as we follow him. And finally, we need to change our garments and as an act of repentance take off any sin that hinders us and put on the garments that will make us look less like us and a lot more like Jesus.
Questions
What idols or temptations in your life do you need to rid yourself of?
Spend some time asking God to purify your heart. Pray Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Read Colossians 3:12-15. Which garments do you need to ask God to help you put on?
Keep Digging
Does God care what we wear when we come to worship him? To dig deeper into what scripture has to say about this, read this article from GotQuestions.org!
5 thoughts on “Genesis 35”
Vs 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.
We can learn a valuable lesson here. Getting rid of our idols. What are the things we would bury? Leave them behind. Move forward and God will take care of the threats around us. When we struggle rather than saying HOW can I get out of this, say WHAT can I get out of this. We do not have to stay where we were or with the idols that have entangled us. God made their way vs 5, Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
We need to not be slow to obedience. Or we do incomplete obedience, which is when we know what we are suppose to do, start it but then stop or pause, then we reap those unwanted consequences. BUT GOD is a reedeming God and will bless us through all seasons. If we obey God for only what we get out of it, and not because He is worthy of our love and obedience, then our hearts and motives are wrong.
God thank You that my motives may be right and pure in Your sight. God thank You for such amazing blessings in my life. God the story and life You are weaving in mine, I am so incredibly blessed, gratful and thankful for. Thank You for continuing to guide me in my quest for You. Thank You helping me lay down and bury my idols of this world. ( 2 Corinthians 10:5:) I demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and I take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”. (Colossians 3:2-3) I fill my mind with God’s thoughts. (Philippians 2:5)I pray for the mind of Christ. God lead me, guide me in Your ways, today, in these minutes of this day, in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a side note, BUT GOD is so amazing with His intricate weaving of details. The apostle Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin.The town of Bethlehem was named due to Rachel’s passing. (weirsbe) The birth of Jesus brought joy (“Benjamin”) and also sorrow (ben-oni).
“Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them” (v5).
God had a purpose and provided protection for his plan. Even through their flaws, missteps and failures, he continued to pursue, guide, preserve and bless them—to call them his own. I’m reminded that because of Jesus, our flaws do not discount us from kingdom purposes. Surrender is key as he turns ashes into beauty to fulfill his marvelous plan. How can we fully cooperate this day to see the goodness of the Lord in our circumstances? It’s scary to step out and into his mission, even though it may feel frightening, we must do it scared!
3 “who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Amen! Yes, this is our God who answers us in our distress and is with us wherever we go . . . even if we are as flawed as Jacob/Israel!
The obedience and leadership of Jacob amazes me. If only my children would obey putting all their idols of the world in a hole and burying them, then purifying themselves through confession and repentance. This is my prayer and I’m sure it was the prayer of my parents for me. I surrender daily. Hear my cry, Lord.
Psalm 51:2 says, “Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”
This is a great chapter and I’m definitely convicted and will go confess and repent to the recent sins I have committed this week. It’s cool to see how bethel music got their name! This is the story that they were inspired by.