Gen 34 was a depressing passage, which recorded for us the rape of Jacob's daughter Dinah and the mass massacre of the peoples of the land by Jacob's sons. The chapter ended with Jacob referring to himself as a "stink to the inhabitants of the land", insecure and clearly outnumbered by those around who could seek revenge anytime. At the end of Gen 34, Jacob was in the wrong place, facing a whole load of problems. Gen 35 begins with this context in mind.
(A) Before Bethel: Both God and Jacob prepare for an encounter (Gen 35:1-5)
In verse 1, God called Jacob to "arise and go to Bethel". Bethel was a significant place, because it was there that Jacob encountered God (Gen 28). There, he saw a ladder from heaven to earth, with God at the top of the ladder and angels ascending and descending the ladder. For the first time, God was no longer the God of his father or grandfather, but God staged an encounter with Jacob. Yet this call to move was clearly not an easy task because he had many children (12 by now), two wives, livestock and servants. In Gen 34, his sons plundered the town so now he had even more possessions. Moving meant an upheaval of his entire household too. God also told Jacob specifically what he had to do at Bethel -- "make an altar". We know that an altar is a place of animal sacrifice, and the entire process was troublesome, time-consuming and bloody. We also know that the sacrifice was a sacrifice to God, because of sins.
What is so amazing about this call from God in the beginning of this chapter, is also the fact that God was completely missing in the events of chapter 34. After the mess that Jacob found himself in, now, finally, God called him back to the right place to worship him in a specific manner. Notice also how God refers to himself specifically as the "God who appeared to you when you fled your brother" in verse 1. The Bible reminds us that worship is specific, and fueled by a knowledge of the specific attributes of God. God reminds him of their encounter in a specific time and place, and it is that God that is calling him back to Bethel with these instructions. In the same way, we need to know the God we worship. Do we?
How did Jacob respond to this call? In Gen 35:2, we see that Jacob prepared to do what God asked him to do. Jacob also recognised that the spiritual state of his household was also a problem. He called his family to put aside their idols and purify themselves (Gen 35:3). The foreign gods that they brought with them, their associations to idolatry in the form of earrings, everything that they clung to that was not God was to be buried in Shechem and would not follow them back to Bethel (Gen 35:4).
These verses are remarkable because Jacob responded with actions that God did not command explicitly. What is going on here? Jacob processed God's words (Gen 35:1) and made sense of it in light of his life and then reframed it for his family and children. There is a lesson for us here. When God speaks to us through his word, we are to see who we are, what He has done, and respond in repentance, burying and leaving our idols behind and return to Him wholeheartedly again. Is God calling you back to Him through His Word? How are you responding?
By Gen 35:5, Jacob and his family begin the journey back to Bethel. The Bible tells us that "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". God was protecting the family from the nations around them. He was doing all things, even intervening supernaturally to get them back to Bethel where he called them to. The God of the Bible is amazing, because if He ordains the ends, He will also ordain the means. He does not command his people to something, and leave them to figure things out on their own. Dear friend, has God called you to Bethel? Take heart, because you are not journeying alone. God will make sure you get there.
(B) At Bethel: God renews a powerfully personal covenantal relationship with Jacob (Gen 35:6-15)
Jacob finally arrived at Bethel, and 4 things happened (Gen 35:7-9):
Jacob built an altar and calls the place El-Bethel. He obeyed God and built an altar, instead of the pillar which he built before in Gen 28.
Deborah, Rebekah's nurse dies and is buried there. The place is also renamed (Gen 35:8).
After some time had passed after the death of Rebekah, God appears to him again (Gen 35:9).
Jacob is blessed with a blessing not in terms of physical and material possessions, but something far greater. The blessing that God provides seeks to undo the curse brought about by sin (see Gen 3), with the undoing comes restoration to what it was originally meant to be. Through these blessings in Genesis, first to Abraham, then to Isaac, and now to Jacob, God is bringing his people back to Eden, to the shalom of the beginning.
Something else happens when God appears to Jacob again in Gen 35:10-12. Gen 35:13 implies that it is some sort of "pre-incarnate theophany", where God manifested himself in a way that Jacob could humanly encounter Him. God reiterates Jacob's change in name to Israel (Gen 35:10, c.f. Gen 32). God also calls himself "God Almighty" (El Shaddai, previously used only in Gen 17:1). Here, God is not only the covenantal God, but he is also a God of power. Jacob was also told to be fruitful and multiply -- the same command given to Adam, Noah and Abraham. But there was something new here. Not only would Jacob have nations, but kings would also come from his family (Gen 35:11). In respond to all these, Jacob poured and drink and oil offering (Gen 35:13-15).
These 15 verses are supposed to be read with Gen 28 in mind, as background and as comparison. Previously, Jacob made conditions and didnot know who God truly is. Now, Jacob knows in whom he has believed, and is persuaded that He is able to keep all that he has committed. The events in Jacob's life all lead to this point. Through the various circumstances, Jacob has finally seen the powerful, faithful covenantal God. This powerful God did not remain distant, but came personally, and gave this man a new name. No longer was Jacob a deceiver, as his name suggested, but was now Israel, which means "He strives with God" or "God strives".
The God of the Bible is in the business of giving new identities to people who cannot be morally renovated. He had no interest in taking Jacob and merely upgrading him or morally improving him through techniques and programs. Instead, he is interested in showing his power by giving his people new identities. 2 Cor 5:17 helps us understand that this means a new creation, where the old has passed away and the new has come. What does it mean for you and me? For us, it means that he came into our lives, not to help us to become better people. It goes far, far deeper than improvement works, or to touch up blemishes in our hearts and lives. It means that we have died, and the new 'us' is not the old 'us'. For all who profess faith in Christ died with Christ on the cross, and have been given new lives in Christ, as He was raised. In Jesus, we have put to death our "Jacob", and live as "Israel" instead. And because of that, we can sing:
Now the curse of sin
Has no hold on me
Whom the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed.