God gave Jacob clear instructions where to live, and how to live. Live in Bethel which means “House of God.” God wanted Jacob and his descendants to live in His house. He told his family members and servants to put away idols, purify themselves, and put on clean clothes. Why? Out of non-sensical religious tradition? No. God “answered me in my day of distress and has been with me.” We are going to God’s house because we are grateful. We are going to God’s house because we want God in our lives.
Jacob buried his family’s discarded idols under a tree. The cross that Christ was crucified on was made from a tree. It is good to physically remove idols from our homes, AND to ask Christ to forgive us for having honored them. And then, ask Jesus to take idolatry out of our hearts.
I do not recommend burying idols. It is better to burn or destroy them. After I was born again, I took my 33 rpm records which had ungodly music on them, placed them in a garbage bag and buried them next to a tree. I went away to college. When I came back home for a visit, I discovered that one of my siblings unearthed them and was listening to them. This time, I destroyed them with a shovel and disposed of them.
“Make an altar.” I am so thankful that the Lord calls us to the altar. The altar represents the place of sacrifice and the place of prayer. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, atoned for our sins on the cross, so now in His Name, we can approach the greatest throne that has or ever will exist, namely, the throne of God’s grace.
Praise God! Jacob’s company followed his instruction and received a blessing from God...
“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. So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 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. 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.” Genesis 35:5-8
Jacob and those in his household honored the Lord and the Lord honored them. In John 12:26, Jesus said, “If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” Are we serving God? Is our community serving God? Jacob served God and God placed a spirit of fear on the cities around Jacob so that they would not harm him, his people or his property.
Rebekah’s nurse died and was buried. The name Allon Bachuth means “Oak of Weeping.” Those who serve others are very much missed when they leave this world to be with the Lord.
“Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 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. 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. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.’ Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. 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. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.” Genesis 35:9-15
God is a good father. He affirmed Jacob when he needed affirmation. Jacob, his wives and his servants were old now. Deborah just died. God appeared to Jacob and reminded him that his new name is Israel. God doesn’t see him as the supplanter (Jacob) anymore. He sees him as the one who prevails with the Lord (Israel). He says, “Be.” Be fruitful. Nations and kings shall spring forth from his descendants. He shall inherit the land.
Jacob responds by setting up a stone to mark the place where God spoke to him. He poured a drink offering on it. The drink offering consisted of wine (likely red wine for blood) and symbolized pouring out one’s life for God. He anointed the pillar. Messiah means Anointed One. Anointing oil also represents the Holy Spirit. Messiah is the proper sacrifice for our sin. He is God’s grace to us. He baptizes us believers in Him with the Holy Spirit. He is the Living Word.
“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. 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.’ 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. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.” Genesis 35:16-20
Rachel had named her firstborn son Joseph. His name means to increase. She prophesied that God would add to her another son, which He did. Her death in Bethlehem prefigures the tragedy that will happen to the descendants of her son “Ben-Oni” which means “son of my sorrow.” In the distant future, King Herod will massacre all the sons of Benjamin’s tribe that live in Bethlehem in an effort to destroy God’s Messiah. Thus, she, in a figure, prophesies of things to come while on her death bed.
Jacob gave his son Ben-Oni a new name. He named him Benjamin which means son of my right hand. He buried Rachel in Bethlehem. In the future, God’s Son, Messiah, would be born there.
“Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 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.” Genesis 35:21-22
Later, in Leviticus 18:8, God will make a commandment that no man sleep with his father’s wife. In Genesis 49:3-4, Jacob shall mention this sin to Reuben while blessing him.
Genesis 35:23-26 mentions the names of Jacob’s sons, their mother’s names and that they were born in Padan Aram. Padan Aram was located in modern-day northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, centered around the city of Haran near the Euphrates River.
“Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 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.” Genesis 35:27-29
Jacob and Esau come together once again. This time to bury their father.
Genesis 36:1-43 speaks of Esau’s wives and descendants. He moved away from Jacob because his possessions and Jacob’s were too great for the land that they were on to support them both. He settled his family on Mount Seir.
“Mount Seir (modern-day Jibal al-Sharah in Jordan) is famous for its distinctive red, purple, and pink rocks, including red porphyry and sandstone cliffs, with the ancient city of Petra carved directly into these vibrant, reddish rock formations. Mount Seir is a mountain range located between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, primarily in modern-day Jordan.” Esau’s descendants multiplied and became a strong nation in this location. [1]
Genesis 25:25 says that Esau was born red with hair all over him like a carpet. Genesis 25:30 says, “Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.’ Therefore his name was called Edom.” He sold his birthright to Jacob for some of Jacob’s red stew. Edom means “Red.” Thus, Genesis 35:43 says, “Esau was the father of the Edomites.”
In Numbers 20:14-23, Moses asked the Edomites for permission to pass through their land. They refused to let Israel do so. Numbers 21:4 says that as Israel went around the land of Edom that the souls of the people became very discouraged.
In 1 Samuel 14:47, King Saul of Israel made war against the Edomites. In 1 Samuel 21-22, Doeg, the servant of King Saul, was an Edomite. When Saul sought to slay his son-in-law David, Doeg informed Saul of David’s whereabouts. When Saul wanted the people of Nob massacred for aiding and abetting David, Doeg did it. He slew everyone. Nob was a village consisting of priests and their families. Doeg’s betrayal of David was in essence an attempt on Messiah because Messiah descended from David’s royal line.
Psalm 60:1 mentions that David’s General Joab slew 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt (south of the Dead Sea). In 1 Kings 11:14, Hadad the Edomite was an enemy of King Solomon. In 2 Kings 14:10, Israel defeated Edom during a war with them.
Psalm 137:7 says that the Edomites wanted Babylon to tear down Jerusalem to its very foundation. Babylon did this, but later, they also destroyed Edom’s kingdom.
The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah and Malachi all prophesied against Edom’s sins. They urged the Edomites to repent and turn to God. They did not repent. Then, in 586 BC, the Kingdom of Edom was destroyed by the Babylonians. They never regained their nation. Those who survived the destruction migrated to Judah.
According to historical records, King Herod the Great was a descendant of Edom. He is the king who ordered the massacre of all male children in Bethlehem that were two years old and younger. His goal was to eliminate the Messiah who had been born there. [2]
The Greeks and Romans referred to the Edomites as Idumeans. Mark 3:8 says that crowds of people followed Jesus from Idumea beyond the Jordan. Praise God that some of Edom’s descendants became followers of Messiah.
May our Heavenly Father grant us all the grace to embrace Messiah and be His followers.
In Matthew 16:16-17, after Peter professed to Jesus before others, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus said to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Each conversion to faith in Christ is a miracle of God’s grace.
When God urged Jacob to build an altar to Him, Jacob did so, and he called his wives, his children and his servants to come to the altar with him. Jacob was not perfect by any means, but he connected with Him who is perfect, namely God.
Jacob’s brother Esau married pagan wives and though his descendants built a great nation, that nation did not stand in the day of judgment.
Romans 3:23-24 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” To be justified by God is to let Him be the One who makes you right with Him. Give your sins to God to forgive them! Receive His gracious pardon by professing faith in Jesus His Son as your Messiah. Romans 3:26 says that God is “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Do you believe and profess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?
If not, if you are not hearing from Him, it is important to ask Him to forgive your sins. Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” The main sin that separates us from God is unbelief. It is vital to repent of unbelief. It was doubt of God’s Word that brought sin into the world in the days of Adam and Eve. God’s Word in Acts 16:30 says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Faith in God’s Word brings us back into relationship with Him.
Wade Joye, Christopher Brown, Mack Brock and Steven Furtick wrote a song entitled, “O Come to the Altar.” Verse 2 says, “Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today, there’s no reason to wait. Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. From the ashes, a new life is born. Jesus is calling.” And the chorus says, “O come to the altar. The Father’s arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.”
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for opening up Your arms to me through Your Son Jesus Christ. Lord, I believe in You. I place my life in Your hands. In my life, Father, be glorified. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”
[1] Google Sources
[2] amazingbibletimeline.com; Matthew 2
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