Genesis 35: House of God

¹ Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. ³ Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. ⁵ Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

⁶ Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. ⁷ There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. -Genesis 35:1-6

More than 20 years after Jacob had experienced a vision of God during a dream, God brought him back to the very spot where it all began. What started as a dream now became an altar. It’s name? El Bethel, meaning “house of God.”

In the process, Jacob removed all foreign gods and enforced purity among his people. We are told the terror of God fell on the surrounding towns so no one pursued them. Since the last chapter left us wondering if Jacob would soon be attacked, it is a big deal that Jacob was once again protected by God. God had chosen him, stayed with him, and continued to protect him.

God is with us as well. We may not always feel like it, but he is there. Let us likewise devote ourselves to him, knowing he is there and can protect us through all of life’s troubles.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.