In Genesis chapter 34, God is not mentioned at all. However, in chapter 35, He’s mentioned eleven times, and indirectly another seven times.
Nevertheless, even with God mentioned so often, life
still gets messy.
In this chapter we have:
3 funeral
arrangements.
2 name changes.
1 birth announcement.
And Reuben sleeps with his step mom (Bilhah).
Jacob’s sons recently killed all the men of Shechem
and plundered the city, in revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah.
Jacob rebuked them. You’ve made us obnoxious to those
around us, now they’ll do to us, what you did to Shechem.
But his boys just said, nobody’s gonna treat our
sister like a Harlot. Genesis 34:30-31.
Then, God spoke up...
Genesis 35:1
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.”
Bethel. Beth,
means house. El means, God. House of God.
Arise and go up to
the House of God.
And dwell there; and make an altar there.
The
House of God is a place to dwell and worship, not just visit like a café
to be fed, or theatre to be entertained.
By Divine Design the House of God should
be the central hub of our lives.
It’s where He wants us to flee at the first sign of trouble.
Life happens, things go sideways, health, family, finances,
attacks from without and within, run to, flee to Bethel, the House of
God, your Father’s House, the place He’s invited all to come, weary and heavy
laden, and learn of Him, and find peace, and rest.
David had it right when he said in Psalm 27:4, One thing have
I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house
of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and
to inquire in his temple.
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.
Jacob might sound something like this:
Listen up household, things are going to be different
from here on out.
I haven’t been such a great example. I’ve made more
than my share of mistakes. I’m sorry about that. But now we must put our house
in order.
Throw away the foreign gods, those
pictures, signs, books, movies, music, games, jewelry, clothes, everything that’s
distracting from attracting you to Almighty God.
Set no unclean thing before your eyes, so
you can walk through your house with a perfect heart. Psalm 101:2-3.
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.”
Get up we’re going to Bethel; to God’s House. (It
was about a 15 mile trip).
It’s way past time for me to fulfill a promise I made to
God a long time ago.
But life got in the way, and I got sidetracked, and slipped
back.
I guess I figured this is as good as it gets, this is as
close as I’ll ever be to Him, as near as I dare approach, God’s House.
I was wrong.
Now, I know, He never left me. He always had my back.
Now He wants me back.
So, rise and shine, we’re going to God’s House.
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.
When dad walks humbly, honestly, with
transparency and integrity, the family will follow.
The earrings were amulets, charms to foreign gods.
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 was upon them. Perhaps they saw a host of angels protecting Jacob.
We don't know how it happened, we just know it did.
Proverbs
16:7
When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace
with him.
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.
He brought, all the people who were with him,
to Bethel; the House of God.
Psalm 122:1, I was glad when they said
unto me, let us go to the House of the Lord.
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.
El Bethel.
El means God. Beth means, house. God of the House of God.
It’s not about the place, it’s about the God of
the place.
It’s not about the altar, it’s about the God of
the altar.
Without God, all the altars, Bethels, Cathedrals, Sanctuaries,
are empty, hollow, godless.
With God, any
place can become the House of God, an altar to God.
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.
Rebekah, was Jacob's mom. Deborah, may have been his nanny. Some claim Jacob visited his father Isaac often after returning to the Promise Land; and perhaps he brought Deborah back with him after his mom died.
Perhaps, that's why they were together upon Deborah’s death.
Allon Bachuth, literally means, terebinth of weeping. The first Weeping Willow? 😊.
For now...Even with God as the central hub of our lives, for now, bones will break, bodies will bleed, sickness will come, loved ones will die.
We will weep... for now.
But those in Christ, those preprayered to dwell
in the House of the Lord forever, weep with hope, with joy, with
Resurrection Life, with Easter, in our tears. Knowing someday, we’ll all be, Home,
in our Father’s House, where there’s no more dying, or crying, or sickness, or
sorrow. No more goodbyes.
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.
Jacob buries his nanny, then God shows up to comfort
and encourage.
God appeared to him, and blessed him,
and said to him, you’re no longer who you used to be, no longer the heel
grabbing, deceiver.
You’re a new man with a new name, as a prince you’ve
struggled with God, now you are, Israel.
Genesis 32:28, God already told him about the name
change; but sometimes we think God takes back His gifts, because we mess
up, one too many times.
However, the gifts and callings of God are without
repentance. Romans 11:29.
He knew you before He called you, and He
never makes a mistake.
11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”
God tells him to be fruitful and multiply.
The first words of God to man in the beginning. Genesis 1:28. Then repeated
again, to Noah, in the new beginning after the flood, Genesis 9:1,7.
Now to you, here and now,
today, for in Christ you are a new creation, old things have passed away,
behold all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
God also said, nations shall proceed from you. He’s
talking about the nation of Israel; and you, if you are Christ’s then
you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:19.
If you are Christ’s
then you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation...
1 Peter 2:9.
13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with
him.
Must’ve been a Christophany, an appearance of
Christ, prior to His incarnation.
And He went up from him, like
when Jesus ascended up from the disciples, and as they were standing, staring,
a couple angels appeared and said, What’re you staring at? This same Jesus
that went up, will come down just like you saw Him go. Acts 1:9-10.
He's coming back.
1st in the clouds, to meet us in the air, it might be
today.1 Thessalonians 4:17.
2nd coming all the way back, right where He left, on
the Mount of Olives. Zechariah 14:3-4.
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.
He placed a pillar, perhaps using the same one from
decades prior. He takes time to set and secure it in place; not in haste as the
first time when fleeing from his brother.
He pours out a drink offering, honoring God’s faithfulness
to protect him, provide for him, and bring him back safely. You’ve quenched my
every thirst oh God, my Spring of Living Water.
He anointed it with oil, sanctifying it, setting it
apart, as a sacred memorial unto God.
As God confirmed again, to Jacob, the name, Israel. Jacob confirms again, to God, the name Bethel, House of God.
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.
First his nanny, now his wife. Jacob was not immune to
the peaks and valleys, the joys and sorrows, of life.
None of us are... for now.
For now, even with God, as the central hub of our lives, for now, bones
will break, bodies will bleed, sickness will come, and loved ones will die.
We will weep... for now.
But those in Christ, those preprayered to dwell in the
House of the Lord forever, weep with hope, with joy, with Resurrection Life,
with Easter, in our tears. Knowing someday, we’ll all be Home, in our Father’s
House, where there’s no more dying, or crying, or sickness, or sorrow. No more
goodbyes.
Note: All Rachel’s beauty didn’t help her to be happy;
she had said to Jacob, “Give me children, lest I die.” Now she has children,
for this is her 2nd, and she dies, in sorrow, naming the child,
Ben-Oni, meaning son of my sorrow.
But Jacob, called him, Benjamin, son of my right hand.
Which avoided a sorrowful reminder every time he spoke his name.
In joy, Jacob placed a pillar in honor of his God. Now,
in sorrow he places a pillar in honor of his wife, Rachel.
It is the way of life... for now.
21 Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower
of Eder. 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.
Jacob heard about it, and that’s all we hear about it,
but Jacob didn’t forget about it.
In the end, Reuben doesn’t receive the birthright or
blessing of the firstborn.
As a matter of fact, neither did the 2nd or
3rd born, Simeon and Levi, because of their slaughter at Shechem.
Surely your sin will find you out. Numbers
32:23.
So, the blessing fell on the 4th born,
Judah, from whose line we’ve received the Best Blessing, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus
Christ our Savior and Lord.
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.
This is the first time the 12 sons, the 12 tribes of Israel,
are listed.
After this they are listed often, all the way to the
last book of the Bible. Revelation 7:4-8.
27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba
(that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. 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.
Isaac lived the longest of the patriarchs, 180. Abraham
was 175, and Jacob a young 147.
This is the third funeral in this chapter, yet it ends
on a high note.
The boys, twin brothers, once rivals, have buried the
hatchet, and now, together they bury their dad.
Let’s pray.
El Bethel, God of the House of God, thank You for sticking
with us, even through, especially through, our many messes. Please create in us
a clean heart that longs to dwell in Bethel, in Your house, forever. Thank
You for using us to bring all of our household, all those You’ve given us, into
Your House, into Bethel.
Thank You, we love You, forever.
Amen.
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Bethel, Genesis 35
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Bethel, Genesis 35
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s
Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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