Bethel – Genesis 35:1-15

We are not used to the sacred value ancient peoples put on places where spiritual experiences were had.  Jacob does this.  One of the places he finds sacred is a terebinth tree near Shechem.  The ESV Study Bible says, “Terebinths are huge, spreading trees that grow to a height of 20–26 feet (6–8 m). They have reddish-green leaves and red berries that grow in clusters. A perfumed, oily resin flows out of the bark when it is cut. Terebinths grow in hot, dry places, and were thus a source of welcome shade to the people of the Bible (35:4; Hos. 4:13).”  Jacob will worship at another sacred place…Bethel.

[1] 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.

[5] And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon 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.

[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. (Genesis 35:1-15, ESV)

Jacob and sons have just created a mess in Shechem by killing all the men of that town and taking their women and children as slaves as well as taking their wealth.  Jacob is scared because the other Canaanite communities see him now as an invader and might confront him militarily.  Yahweh speaks to Jacob (we’re not told how) and tells Jacob to move to Bethel, the place where Yahweh appeared to him in a dream as he was fleeing his brother Esau and going to Haran (Paddan-Aram), and where he vowed to Yahweh that if Yahweh protected him, he would make Yahweh his God.

In preparation for this move Jacob orders all in his household to put away all the gods that are foreign (that are not representations of Yahweh) and to purify themselves, which includes changing clothes.  Jacob takes those gods, their images, that is, and hides them under the terebinth tree there at Shechem.  Jacob is seeking to enforce worship of Yahweh alone.  And as they journey to Bethel, Yahweh puts His fear on all the inhabitants around so that they do not attack Jacob.

Jacob describes Yahweh as “the God who answers me in the day of my distress,” and Bethel is a commemoration of that.  So he builds an altar there and once again, as is his new habit, he names the altar, calling it El-Bethel, the God of the House of God.  Here, Rebekah’s nurse Deborah dies and is mourned.  Deborah was sent with Rebekah when she came from Haran to become the wife of Isaac.  She undoubtedly helped Rebekah raise her children and she may have been sent with Jacob when he fled to Haran.  If so, she would have been like a grandmother to Jacob’s children.

Yahweh appears in Bethel to Jacob again, after his return to Canaan, even as He appeared to Jacob years before.  Before Yahweh appeared to Jacob in a dream, but this time in the likeness of a man, who blesses Jacob, restating his new name and repeating the promises to Jacob that had been made to Abraham and Isaac.  He tells him that kings will come from him, an extraordinary promise to someone who could never anticipate something like that.  When He is finished, Yahweh goes up from Jacob in a startling fashion.  In addition to the altar, Jacob then builds a pillar and anoints it with a drink offering and oil.  This place is indeed a house of God, so Jacob repeats his name for this place, Bethel.  The inhabitants of the land call it Luz, but it holds special significance for Jacob as the place where God has met him twice.  Moses’ readers who are traveling to Canaan to displace its inhabitants are no doubt ready to see this place and they will call it Bethel.

Where has God met you?