Genesis 35.1-God Commands Jacob to Return to Bethel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday October 1, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 35:1-God Commands Jacob to Return to Bethel
Lesson # 214
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 35:1.
This morning we will begin a study of Genesis 35, which completes the eighth book in Genesis, which began in Genesis 25:19 and presents the family history of Isaac and in particular Jacob whose name was later changed by the Lord to “Israel” who would carry on the line of Christ and be the progenitor of the nation of Israel.
The following is an outline of Genesis 35: (1) Jacob fulfills his vow to God at Bethel (Genesis 35:1-15). (2) Death of Rachel and Birth of Benjamin (Genesis 35:16-20) (3) Reuben’s Incest (Genesis 35:21-22a). (4) Jacob’s Genealogy (Genesis 35:22b-26). (5) Death and Burial of Isaac at Hebron by Jacob and Esau (Genesis 35:27-29).
The following is an outline of the first section contained in Genesis 35:1-15: (1) God commands Jacob to ascend to Bethel and build an altar in fulfillment of his vow (Genesis 35:1). (2) Jacob obeys, purges his household of idols and builds altar (Genesis 35:2-7). (3) Death of Deborah (Genesis 32:8). (4) Preincarnate Christ appears to Jacob and renews Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 35:9-13). (5) Jacob rededicates the stone pillar and renews name of Bethel (Genesis 35:14-15).
This morning we will study Genesis 35:1, which gives us the record of God commanding Jacob to go up to Bethel and fulfill his vow to make an altar to worship Him there.
Genesis 35:1, “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’”
Jacob has not heard from God in approximately ten years when He gave Jacob the command to leave Paddan Aram and return to Canaan (See Genesis 31:3), which is indicated first of all from the age of Dinah in Shechem as compared to her age at the time of Jacob’s departure.
When Jacob left Paddan aram, she must have been a very young child, for Dinah was born after Leah had borne Jacob six sons (cf. 30:21) and by the time Jacob was in Shechem, Dinah was of a marriageable age (cf. 34:1ff.).
Secondly, we know that Joseph was seventeen when he was sold into slavery, and this seems to be not too long after Jacob went to Bethel for the second time (37:2).
Since we know that Joseph was born at the end of Jacob’s fourteen year contract with Laban (30:25 26), he would have been about six years old when Jacob left Paddan-¬aram (cf. 31:41), thus, there is a period of nearly ten years between Jacob’s departure from Paddan aram and his final arrival at Bethel.
Notice that Moses does “not” use the covenant name of God Yahweh, “Lord” but rather he uses Elohim, “God,” which emphasizes the sovereignty of God, which refers to God’s complete power over all of creation, so that He exercises His will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by a finite will or wills.
Therefore, the noun Elohim, “God” emphasizes to the reader that God has sovereignly determined to intervene to protect Jacob and prevent the inhabitants surrounding Shechem to attack Jacob and his household, thus protecting the line of Christ by commanding him to return to Bethel.
Also, the noun Elohim emphasizes that Jacob is under God’s authority, which is expressed by God commanding him to leave Shechem and return to Bethel.
Furthermore, the noun Elohim, “God” also emphasizes the omnipotence of God, which has protected Jacob from Laban, Esau and would now protect him from the Canaanites and Perizzites whom Jacob feared would seek to attack him in retaliation for the massacre of the Shechemites by his sons.
“Arise” is the verb qum (<Wq) (koom), which is an idiomatic expression describing a preparatory action needed to be taken so that a primary action can take place and involves preparation to change location as God commands Jacob to return to Bethel.
“Go up” is the verb `alah (hlu), which indicates that God is commanding Jacob to “ascend” to Bethel since Shechem is approximately 1,880 feet above sea level and Bethel approximately 2,890 feet above sea level.
God’s command to Jacob is a double entendre symbolizing Jacob’s spiritual ascent to God since he has been in a spiritual trough ever since arriving in Shechem where he procrastinated and made a poor decision by purchasing land from Hamor, which led to the rape of his daughter Dinah and the massacre of the city of Shechem.
“Bethel” literally means, “house of God” and was approximately ten miles north of Jerusalem, which according to Genesis 28:19, was originally called “Luz,” until Jacob changed the name to memorialize his encounter with the preincarnate Christ.
Bethel was only thirty miles away from Shechem, and yet it was ten years since Jacob’s return into Canaan and it was over thirty years since he had made his vow to return to Bethel and build an altar there to worship the Lord.
Genesis 35:1, “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’”
“Live” is the verb yashav (bv^y*) (yaw-shav), which means, “to live in a place for a period of time” and does “not” mean to live in a place permanently.
Therefore, God wanted Jacob to live in Bethel long enough to fulfill his vow and build the altar he promised to build thirty years prior.
If you recall, in Genesis 28:10-21, Jacob never built an altar to the Lord since he did not have any materials to do so, nor animals to sacrifice but promised to return to Bethel and do so when God returned him to the land of Canaan.
“Altar” is the noun mizbeach (j^B@w+m!) (miz-bay-akh), which was composed of material, constructed of earth and stones and was the place Jacob and his family was to worship the Lord.
This is the first time that God commanded one of the patriarchs to build an altar.
God reminds Jacob that approximately thirty years before that He had appeared to him at Bethel while he was fleeing from Esau and promised to protect and prosper Jacob and return him to the land of Canaan.
In Genesis 28:10-13, as Jacob was departing Beersheba to escape the wrath of Esau, it was at Bethel that he was given a vision of elect angels and the Lord appeared to him in a dream in order to give him reassurance as he made his way into exile in Paddan Aram.
In Genesis 28:13-15, we saw Jacob receiving from the Lord reconfirmation of the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant and reassurance that the Lord would protect and prosper him in exile in Paddan Aram.
In Genesis 28:16-22, we saw Jacob perform five acts of worship in response to this revelation from God.
Genesis 28:10, “Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran.”
Genesis 28:11, “He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.”
Genesis 28:12, “He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”
Genesis 28:13, “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.’”
Genesis 28:14, “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 28:15, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:16, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.’”
Genesis 28:17, “He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’”
The Hebrew term translated “fear” and “awesome” is the verb yare (ar@y*) (yaw-ray), which denotes the concept of worshipping God and does “not” refer to being afraid as a result of a threat to one’s life but rather it means, “to have reverence and respect” for the Lord and to be in “awe” of Him and expresses Jacob’s “wonder” towards Him.
Genesis 28:18, “So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.”
“Pillar” is the noun matstsevah (hb*x@m^) (mats-say-vaw), which denotes a single upright stone pillar set up as a monument and a memorial to mark the spot where the Lord had appeared to him and made promises to him.
The pouring of oil on top of the limestone was an expression of Jacob’s dedication, devotion, consecration and gratitude to the Lord and recognition of the gracious promises that the Lord made to him in the dream.
Genesis 28:19, “He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.”
Genesis 28:20-21, “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.’”
Vows were not contracts or limited agreements but rather they were verbal and voluntary acts of submission to the Lord and the reorientation of one’s life to meet the Lord’s standards.
Remember, he left home because of Esau’s desire to kill him but now Jacob’s journey takes on a whole new different meaning since God has revealed to him that He has a plan for his life.
Since the Lord has revealed Himself to Jacob through the theophany and guaranteed him divine protection and prosperity while in exile in Paddan Aram, Jacob has committed himself to living according to the standards of the living God.
“If” is the conditional particle `im (sa!) (eem), which introduces the protasis of a 1st class condition, which indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
The context indicates that Jacob is not striking a bargain with the Lord since he has already responded to the divine revelation by worshipping the Lord with his lips, erecting a memorial, pouring oil on the top of the pillar expressing his dedication and devotion to the Lord and naming the place “house of God.”
Therefore, the conditional particle should be translated either “since” you will be with me and will protect me on this journey that I take and will give me food to eat and garments to wear and I return to my father’s house in safety, and I believe you that I will, then, the Lord will be my God.
Genesis 28:22, “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
Jacob proposes to give this tithe to the Lord because he now recognizes the Lord’s authority over him and does this willingly rather than from obligation.
Also, this tithe that Jacob proposes to give the Lord would provide the means to build and maintain the altar he would build, which the pillar began.
Therefore, in Genesis 35:1, God commands Jacob to return to Bethel to finish what he began with the pillar and build an altar as he promised God some thirty years before when he was fleeing Canaan because of Esau’s threat to kill him once their father Isaac had died.
Genesis 35:1, “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’”
God has kept His promise to not only to protect and prosper Jacob while he was in exile in Paddan Aram with his uncle Laban but also He fulfilled His promise to bring him back to the land of Canaan safe and sound.
Now it was time for Jacob to keep his end of the bargain.
God was rebuking Jacob by reminding Jacob of his vow and commanding him to return to Bethel to fulfill it and build an altar there to worship Him.
The content of the divine command informs us as to what Jacob had promised to do when God returned him to the land of Canaan, namely, to build an altar there in order to worship the Lord.
Numbers 30:2, “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”
Obedience to this command would take great faith on the part of Jacob since the Canaanites and Perizzites would have been hostile due to the massacre by his people of the city of Shechem.
Now, if we could we have our deacons pass out the communion elements and let us take a few minutes to meditate upon the Lord and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:23-24, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:25, “In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”