Genesis 35:1-15 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 35:1-15. Let’s go!
Genesis 35:1 (NIV)
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.”
On verse 1: Keep in mind what happened right before this chapter. To Jacob’s dismay, Jacob’s sons have massacred a city, kidnapped all the women and children in that city, and taken the wealth of the city as their own. Jacob is now fearing for his life and the lives of his children and grandchildren (Genesis 34:30). It’s an incredibly stressful and fearful time for Jacob. It’s in this context that God tells Jacob to go back to Bethel, to the place where Jacob first encountered God (in Genesis 28:19) many years before and build an altar there. God reminds Jacob of who God is, how God appeared to Jacob the last time Jacob was fleeing for his life when he ran from his brother Esau (v1).
What can we learn from this? When you’re stressed and fearing what will happen in the future, go back – at least in your mind – to the times in your past when God delivered you from similarly stressful and fearful times. Remember that the same God who delivered you then is faithful to deliver you again now.
Also, it’s no coincidence that “Bethel” means “house of God”. Just as Jacob returned to Bethel the house of God in his stress, may you make it a habit of returning to the house of God – i.e. the church where you worship Jesus. Instead of worshiping the problem in front of you, go back to the house of God – i.e. your local church – and worship the One who watches over you.
Genesis 35:2-4 (NIV)
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.
On verses 2-4: This time when Jacob goes to Bethel to worship God, he doesn’t go alone. He takes his entire household with him to worship God at Bethel. He leads his household to repent of their sins and get rid of all their foreign gods.
What can we learn from this? Parents, especially in times of crisis, it is important to lead your family to God through repentance of sin, getting rid of idols that we worship, and worshiping God in a fresh way.
Genesis 35:5 (NIV)
5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
On verse 5: Jacob was fearing for his life, but as he and his household head for Bethel the towns around them are afraid of them. Perhaps it’s because the towns around them had heard what Jacob’s sons had done to Shechem, Hamor and their city. It’s also probably because of God’s special protection on Jacob and his household.
Genesis 35:6-7 (NIV)
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.
On verses 6-7: Decades before, Jacob came to this place called Luz and called it “Bethel”, meaning house of God. Now, having returned to Bethel once again, he gives this place a new name: he calls it El Bethel, meaning “God of the house of God”. While this might sound redundant, this was Jacob especially acknowledging the fact that he had experienced not just a place, but a person: God himself, who was the God over the house of God.
For me this is a reminder that the house of God – the church – is an awesome place where God’s presence can be felt, where lives are changed, and where heaven meets earth in special ways, but the reason that is all possible is because God – “the God of the house of God” – is there and is at work. May you have eyes to see how God is present and working in your church.
Genesis 35:8 (NIV)
8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So it was named Allon Bacuth.
On verse 8: Deborah was Rebekah’s nurse who likely helped Rebekah to raise Jacob and Esau. The fact that they would call the place where she was buried “oak of weeping” suggests that Deborah had a deep impact on the family she served. One possible lesson from this is that when you spend much of your life raising children, it is a noble and commendable calling. The impact that you have on a child’s life will never be forgotten.
Interestingly, while Genesis 35 mentions the deaths of Deborah, Rachel and Isaac, there is no mention in Genesis of Rebekah’s death, except saying where she was buried (Genesis 49:31).
Genesis 35:9-12 (NIV)
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 come from your body.
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.”
On verses 9-12: Here God reaffirms His previous promises to Jacob: that his name would be changed to Israel (v10; Genesis 32:28), that Jacob and his descendants would be given the land on which he is standing (v12; Genesis 28:13), and that Jacob will be fruitful and increase in number (v11; Genesis 28:14). This time God adds that kings will come from Jacob’s body (v11). As God confirms in verse 12, God’s promise to make countless his descendants and to give him this land is the same promise God specifically gave to Abraham (Genesis 15:18; 15:5) and to Isaac (Genesis 26:3-4).
Evidently God was writing a story that didn’t just concern one generation but many.
We tend to focus so much on what happens during our own lifespan and our generation, but God’s perspective is much bigger than that. The story God is writing does not just involve one lifetime and one generation, but many lifetimes and many generations after us.
Genesis 35:13-15 (NIV)
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.
On verses 13-15: Why is it that God would speak repeatedly again to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? I believe one reason is because each of them made it a point to acknowledge the Lord, to build an altar to Him and to worship Him. When you make worshiping God your habit, as Jacob exemplifies here in these verses, you will experience God over and over again.
Heavenly Father, thank You that the same God who delivered me in the past is the same God who is with me now and will deliver me in the future. May I worship You and experience You more and more. Thank You that You are writing a bigger story than anything I could imagine, one that is not just about my life and my generation, about many lives and many generations after me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
