Lesson 75- Jacob goes to Bethel, Genesis 35

Putting the other gods in their place. 35:1- 4

English Standard Version (Chapter 35)

35 God said 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.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.

3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

The town of Shechem is “no where” after the murder of all of the men in town by Jacobs sons, the brothers of Dinah. God is able to get Jacob’s attention and calls him back to Bethel. The call of God is strong on him again. Remember the anointed rock pillow? God says to Jacob, “It is time to live there. This is the place to where you fled from Esau and met with God just before you saw Esau face to face.” Jacob has history with Bethel. Maybe 8 years or so have passed since that time, but it not been a boring time.

Jacob gets the message laying down this time and begins the process of getting his clan ready to go to Bethel (Arise vs.1). But the family must be morally and spiritually clean. In just eight years there’s been some strange things in their possession that cannot make the journey:

There are foreign gods among them and they will not make the trip. Shechem has been a place of collecting the unclean. Time to clean house, or maybe the tent.

They need to purify themselves: that means to be ritually clean, or as we would say, zestfully clean, spiritually! Jacob, you can’t take the stink (unclean spiritually) to Bethel.

You must change your clothes! This actually a reference point for Jacob and his clan. Beyond this place, they are going to look different, smell different, live different, and worship different. No curious mixtures in this group. It’s God’s way or the highway.

At Bethel, Jacob wants to make an altar to God, who had answered him in the day of distress, and has been with him every step of the way.

His people/family really gave it up for Jacob. They gave him all of the foreign Gods and their earrings(which the earrings were probably used in incantation and magic that they used with the foreign gods.) Can you imagine that an earring could be such a danger spiritually? I guess in the course of my life, I can remember the debate of how much makeup and jewelry a woman could wear and be godly/holy. Of course, we usually do not associate earrings with spirituality today, but it has become a distraction when we see people with several piercings on their face. But they did shun the earrings in that culture because of the connection with divination and its connection to slavery.

They buried the stuff in a grave under an oak tree, in particular, it was a terebinth tree, a type of an oak. The burial signifies a putting to death of the idols. Later in Israel’s history, Idols would be ground up and burnt because of some wanting to dig up the past as valuable. This oak was at the place they are leaving behind, Shechem. Jacob is going back to his roots and at the same time he is covering new territory. He is starting back over. It’s a new walk, wardrobe, and worship. Foreign gods and earrings, were some of the biggest obstacles they had to overcome. Yes, their clothes changed too,

English Standard Version (Chapter 35)

5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon, and the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 And 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 there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth, (a burial site.)

The near neighbors knew from what had happened to the Shechemites, i.e. the great purge of chapter 34. They could have easily attacked them as they left and traveled to Bethel in revenge. But now Israel traveled with the families of earth viewing them with great fear and awe. Luz is another name for Bethel. A new altar is being built in verse 7 and the changes the name of the place to the God of Bethel- El-Bethel. This is about 12 miles north of the modern day of Jerusalem.

Rebekah had a nurse whose name was Deborah. Yes, new info, but a record of an individual none the less. It is here Deborah was buried near Bethel. It is a solemn moment as it is the start of more being buried in this area.

English Standard Version (Chapter 35)

9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. 11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. 12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” 13 Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. 14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

The One True God, Elohim, speaks to Jacob. Make no mistake upon who the blessing of Abraham has rested. It was not on Ishmael, it was on Isaac and now Jacob, even though Isaac is still alive at this point. It is here, once again, that the promises to Abraham are rehearsed to Jacob as he and his family will inherit the special blessings.

Jacob is reminded He is Israel now! God is “God Almighty!” Nations and kings shall come from his multiplied seed. The land is his and God will meet with him here in this land. Jacob concludes with an encounter with an unnamed drink offering and anointing the pillar of stone with oil. The oil is olive berry oil or myrrh. Now forever known as the place where God spoke with him-Bethel. Bethel is a popular name yet today across the United States. Not sure about other parts of the world but we sure have grabbed hold of it.

Death Marks the Journey 35:16- 21

English Standard Version (Chapter 35)

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. 17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” 18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

Rachel passes on into eternity while giving birth to Benjamin. Rachel wanted to call him, “son of my trouble-Benoni” but since she is gone, Jacob calls him Benjamin. The 12 tribes in now complete with this birth. Rachel is buried at Ephrath, which is the modern day Bethlehem. Micah 5:2

Micah 5:2 (KJV 1900)

But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah,Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;

Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Yes, we are continuing to lay the groundwork for the birth of the Savior, a family firmly entrenched in the life of the Middle East. Rachel’s tomb and the pillar erected there are maybe a contrast to the caves some of the other family members were laid to rest. While this text is a slow read, it is important to note that there is more than one place mentioned for her burial. More likely she is buried within the Territory given to Benjamin after the 40 years of wandering.. She is most probably somewhere near south of Bethel, near Bethlehem and Hebron, and Migdol Eder. This a location provided in I Samuel 10: 1- 6

1 Samuel 10:1–6 (KJV 1900)

Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found:

The exact location for us is not a big deal,as most of us are not going to try and find her grave. I’m sure Rachel’s grave would be an exploited location today.