Nearly thirty years had passed since Jacob vowed to return to Bethel, the place where God had revealed Himself to him during his flight from Esau to Paddan-aram. Far worse, it had been 10 years since Jacob had left Laban and returned to the land of promise. In the interim, Jacob built a house in Succoth and formed alliances in Shechem with the Canaanites, which would have ruined the nation that was to emerge from Jacob’s descendants. It was 30 years after Jacob’s vow to return to Bethel that he determined to fulfill it ... though Shechem was only 30 miles - three days' journey -- from Bethel.

From outward appearances Jacob was not that far from God. Thirty miles isn't much and he'd built an altar in Shechem, so there must have been some kind of religious observance there. Spiritually, though, Jacob was not at all near to God. Jacob told Esau he would meet him at Seir, then went in the opposite direction, first to Succoth, then to Shechem. Jacob passively accepted the rape of his daughter and even entered into an agreement that would have cost the purity of God's covenant people. Preoccupied with prosperity and security at the expense of purity and piety, Jacob dwelt near Bethel but not near to the God of Bethel—at least not in chapter 34.

Lest we become judgmental, Jacob’s condition was not that different from many Christians in our own time. We may appear to be walking close to God by keeping the forms and rituals of piety, while in reality we have "denied its power" (1Timothy 3:5). Like the church in Ephesus, we may have lost our first love (Revelation 2:4) or come, like the Laodiceans to consider ourselves doing well spiritually when in fact we are destitute, cold and indifferent (Revelation 3:15-17).

The truth is that every one of us will face times when we have strayed from an intimate walk with God and Genesis 35 provides us with a pattern for finding our way back. Jacob is our guide to returning to the place of promise we should all inhabit.

"Then God said to Jacob, "Go up at once to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." So Jacob told his household and all who were with him,

"Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. Let us go up at once to Bethel. Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went."

Moses did not tell us about any revelation Jacob might have received from God during the nearly 10 years since He had commanded he leave Paddan-aram and return to Bethel. Moses might have failed to record these communications, but I think it was more likely that Jacob wasn't listening. Despite his dramatic encounter with the Angel of Jehovah (the pre-incarnate Christ), Jacob quickly lost any sense of urgency about doing God's will. He probably planned to eventually go to Bethel, but there was no hurry in his mind. God had clearly spoken and Jacob knew His command. There was little value in God speaking again until Jacob was willing to obey.

Perhaps the tragic events surround Dinah's rape improved Jacob's ability to hear and obey God. His sons' revenge made it impossible to remain in Shechem, so Jacob might have been more inclined toward Bethel. Sometimes we follow God's commands as much through sin as through obedience.

Christians have free will in the sense of being able to choose whether or not we will obey what God commands. We can resist the commands of God, but we cannot thwart His ultimate purposes. God allowed Jacob to go his own way and reap the consequences of his disobedience. Eventually, we will do what God has purposed. God does not, like many of us do as parents, yell and holler, fuss and fume, over the disobedience of His children. While deeply grieved by our disobedience, He allows us to go our own way and reap the painful price of sin. When we have gotten our fill of sin and come to the end of our rope, He will speak to us again, reminding us of what He has previously commanded. God’s will can be resisted for a season and at a great price, but ultimately God will create an atmosphere in which we will gladly hear and obey. Then His purposes will be realized in our lives.

Jacob was to return to the place of his spiritual beginnings and dwell there. Perhaps he was hesitant to return to Bethel because of the foreign idols in his camp (of which, I believe, he was aware). For his love of Rachel, he allowed her to keep her family gods, but this set a precedence for other idols in his camp, especially among the captured Canaanites from Shechem. Remarkably, Jacob had tolerated a high level of idolatry and impurity in his entourage during his years in Succoth and Shechem, but suddenly, when God called him to return to Bethel, he became greatly concerned about purity. Jacob had always understood that there could be no approach to God in an impure condition, which may explain why he wandered anywhere but Bethel for 10 years. Following Christ is always costly and people shouldn't do it without counting the cost (Luke 9:57-62).

Don't be too quick to condemn Jacob, however, because most Christians today are hesitant, if not downright unwilling, to fully commit themselves to God for fear of what that commitment will cost them. Some of us would rather go on a mission trip among head hunters than have the folks where we work know that we're Christians who actually live as Christians.

Jacob feared reprisal from the relatives of those Shechemites his sons had put to death for raping Dinah and he now had a large number of Canaanite captives in his entourage as well. Yet, contrary to his fears, he departed for Bethel without incident. Although the Canaanites might have been wary of the military prowess of Jacob's sons, their victory had been more due to trickery than skills at arms; yet, the Canaanites seemed to fear Jacob's God more than they feared his sons' swords. In this experience, Jacob learned a lesson which we should learn as well -- safety is not found in our own strength nor in alliances with pagans (non-Christians), but in fear of God, which causes us to maintain the purity He demands (Proverbs 29:25; Exodus 14:13-14; Proverbs 8:13; 10:27; 14:26; Isaiah 8:13-15).

Finally in obedience to the command of God, Jacob returned to Bethel and built an altar. Moses didn't record if Jacob gave a tithe as he had promised years before. God doesn't seem to have reminded him of this promise as He did of the commitment to return and build an altar. There was no need of a tithe, truly. What use would it have served, rotting on a an altar in the middle of nowhere? Besides, I think the tithe was Jacob's idea during his bargaining phase and God doesn't bargain with people. Thus, God let this part of the promise pass unmentioned. Some commitments are rashly made and we should be glad that God overlooks them.

Oddly, Genesis 35:9-15 seems to skip over the 10 years of spiritual wilderness as if it hadn't happened. That bothers some people. But consider this -- God is not bound by time and space as we are. Moses, under inspiration, wrote in this fashion to suggest something significant for us from Jacob's life. Those 10 years were of little or no spiritual value because they were a time of independence and disobedience on Jacob's part. No real growth or progress occurred in Jacob's spiritual life, so for God, they were lost years -- years not worth reviewing.

The blessings God spoke to Jacob were remarkably similar to those given to Abraham in Genesis 17:4-7. Jacob receive no new promises. God was simply reminding him of the existing covenant. He then confirmed the covenant by ascending before Jacob's eyes. This event served as a rededication to God for Jacob, his sons and all his household. For the younger members of the family, this may have been the first clear evidence and explanation of the faith which Jacob had possessed, but practiced poorly before them. The faith of Jacob must become the fait of his children if they were to be the chosen nation.

Please read GENESIS 35:16-29 for the text here.

Somewhere between Bethel and Bethlehem, Rachel went into hard labor. The midwife tried to encourage Rachel by informing her that the child was the second son she wanted so badly. She'd named Joseph ("add to me") to express her desire for yet another son. With her dying breath Rachel named this second son Ben-oni, meaning "son of my sorrow." Jacob would not allow that name to stand, however, and changed it to Benjamin, "the son of my right hand." Rachel was buried on the way to Bethlehem, and Jacob and his household proceeded on, having set up a pillar along the way.

Significantly, Moses added that this pillar was still standing in his day. While this may mean little to us, it was probably of great interest to his first readers, the Israelites, who were about to enter into the land of Canaan. If they looked for this pillar when they possessed the land, they would find it and validate Moses' historical accuracy.

You might miss it if you read too fast, but Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, initiated an illicit sexual union with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid and Jacob’s concubine. This report prepares us for the time when Jacob will take away from Reuben the rights of the firstborn (Genesis 49:34).

Careful analysis of the event suggests there is more to the story. A casual reading implies a single act of morality rather than an ongoing relationship. Jacob knew about it, but did nothing. The act is not described as lustful, such as Shechem's rape of Dinah. Bilhah was not a young woman. It appears that at the time it was no big deal, but it appears that Jacob remembered it when it came time to name the successor to his inheritance.

Inevitably, Jacob reconciled with Isaac and Esau. Anyone who has ever totally trashed a family relationship can empathize with Jacob. It must have been the most difficult act of his life to stand before his father and request reconciliation, yet reconciliation with God and the renewal at Bethel necessitated reconciliation with Isaac.

Scholars tell us that Jacob spent about 10 years with his family before Isaac's death, but Moses did not stress this fact. It was time for Isaac to step aside and Jacob to take over. The hostility with Esau seems to have been a thing long dead and Isaac's burial was a cooperative effort.

This is a powerful commentary on the imporance of Christian renewal. Often modern Christians seem to wait for some new and exhilirating experience to put them back on the right path, but the Scriptures record few such experiences. What Jacob did at Bethel was hardly novel and what God said to him at His second appearance was nothing new. We should learn something from that! Jacob needed to gain a deeper appreciation for what he had already experienced, but not fully grasped. He needed no new revelation, but a better understanding of that which he had already received.

The most precious favors of heaven often come to us, not as new blessings or promises, but in repetition or revival of those we have already experienced in the past. Serving God may not be something brand new and novel, but repetitive and commonplace. For example, Jesus commanded believers to frequently and systematically observe the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which takes us back to our initial encounter with our Savior, reminding us that all we are, all that we will be and all that we ever accomplish of eternal value rests on the work of Calvary 2000 years ago.

Of course, urging anyone to return to Bethel assumes that they have been to Bethel in the first place. Jacob came to Bethel the first time in recognition of his sinfulness and accepting that the only way to God's heaven was through God and not self-effort. That was his born-again moment, even though it took him 30 years to fully realize it. If you've never been to Bethel (the cross of Christ) in the first place, there's not much use to rededicating your life. There must be a first commitment involving a recognition of sin and acceptance of Christ as Lord.

I pray that you will do this now by simply acknowledging your sin and your utter inability to gain God’s favor or admission into His kingdom. The way has been provided in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who died in your place and Who offers His righteousness to all who will believe on Him alone for salvation.

This event speaks loudly to the need for sanctification. That's a church word that means to grow in being more Christ-like. Salvation seems easy. Admit, believe and confess. Jacob's renewal at Bethel necessitated that he stop going his own sinful way and once again obey the will of God. There can be no renewal without obedience. Jacob had also to put away those foreign gods he'd tolerated for so long because they were offensive to God. Finally, his renewal involved reconciliation with those he had injuried and offended by his sins. We cannot be reconciled to God without being reconciled with men (Matthew 5:23-24).

The later events in Jacob's life remind Christians that a renewal of our relationship with God does not mean our lives will go smoothly. Even a Spirit-filled life is full of sickness, suffering and sorrow (Philippians 2:25; 2Corinthians 6:4-5; 12:7-10). The Christian life is no bed of roses ... of if it is, the roses have not been de-thorned. Adversaries and afflications are the very things that draw us nearer to God and strengthen our faith (James 1:2-4). Dinah's rape was a tragedy that set Jacob toward Bethel. Otherwise, he might have remained in Shechem and become a Canaanite.

Christians, like everyone else, reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). The heartache Jacob experienced in Chapter 35 was largely the result of his previous sins. I am not saying that Jacob suffered the penalty for his sins. No Christian ever suffers the penalty for sins, for Jesus Christ has borne our sins on the cross. When Christ died on the cross, He died for believers past and future. However, while the guilt and condemnation are absolved, the consequences of sin remain. David sought God’s forgiveness for his sin and received it (Psalm 51), but the consequences for his acts were not held back (2Samuel 12:9-12).

God had purposed that Jacob would someday return to Bethel and to his father. While Jacob dilly-dallied for ten years, he finally arrived. We cannot thwart the purposes of God for our lives. We may resist them, but we cannot prevent them. This does not mean that what we do does not matter. It matters a great deal! Jacob experienced much needless sorrow because of his waywardness. Sin is never worth the price. However, what God has begun, He will finish (Philippians 1:6). We can do things His way or the hard way, but God's purposes will be achieved (Romans 8:28-30).

Jacob was not an example of a fine Christian man. He was an example of a Christian man who was also very human. His example should motivate us to be faithful and encourage us when we have failed in the attempt because we know that God loved Jacob despite his flaws, so He is able to love us in the same way.