Genesis 35:1-29
Q.1. Why did Jacob go to Bethel? How did he instruct his household to prepare for the return? What did they do at Bethel? – (Gen.35:1-8)
Jacob may have been tempted to move away after the bloodbath at Shechem, as their reputation went before them – there was great terror upon the cities … (Gen.35:5). However, it was God Who directed him to return to the place where their Covenant relationship had become personal more than 20 years before. He was to renew his vows – … and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau (Gen.35:1 c.f. Gen.28:10-12). Rachel had stolen Laban’s household gods, and during the family’s intermingling with the inhabitants of Canaan, they had embraced their idols as well – 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; 3 and 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 wherever I have gone.” (Gen.35:2-3). They hid their foreign gods and earrings at Shechem and left them behind (Gen.35:4). Jacob gathered his family at Bethel and – built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother (Gen.35:7).
Q.2. How did God confirm His Covenant with Jacob? What was behind the name change? What was the point of the pillar? – (Gen.35:9-15)
God blessed Jacob’s obedience and – 9 … appeared to Jacob again … and He blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel. 11 God also 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 forth from you. 12 “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” (Gen.35:9-12 c.f. Gen.32:27-28). God not only confirmed Jacob’s new name, but He also renewed the promise He had made to Abraham regarding the land (Gen.35:12 c.f. Gen.15:18-21). Just as Jacob carried a permanent reminder of his encounter with God at Peniel, so he erected a memorial pillar at Bethel to mark the place where God renewed His Covenant with him (Gen.32:25, 31-32). We should never forget our precious encounters we have with God.
Q.3. What happened to Rachel? What is significant about her son’s name? What do we learn about the sons of Jacob? How did Isaac depart? – (Gen.35:16-29)
Not only had Rebekah’s nurse died, but Jacob would experience a further ‘bitter-sweet’ experience: His beloved Rachel would die giving birth to his last son (Gen.35:16-19). As she was dying, she named him – Ben-oni (i.e. son of my sorrow). But Jacob called him – Benjamin (i.e. son of my right hand). Israel’s sons were far from perfect. Simeon and Levi had shamed their father with their vengeance. Jacob’s firstborn – … Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it (Gen.35:22). Bilhah had given Jacob his sons – Dan and Naphtali (Gen.35:25). All Jacob’s sons, apart from Benjamin, were born back at Haran in Paddan-aram. Isaac lived to the age of one hundred and eighty-five years. His sons Esau & Jacob buried him. It is interesting that Esau was named first (Gen.35:27-29).