Lesson 10 - Jacob at Bethel
Background
"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."
When Jacob and Esau separated, Jacob went directly to the city of Shechem in central Palestine, where Abraham had first worshipped God when he arrived in Canaan from Mesopotamia. There, at Shechem, tragedy struck Jacob and his family: His daughter Dinah, about whom we had heard almost nothing up to then, was raped by the son of the leader of the city of Shechem. This young man's name was also Shechem. Shechem realized that he loved this girl whom he had mistreated, and he pleaded with his father to arrange for him to marry Dinah. Shechem's father, whose name was Hamor, did so, but Jacob and his sons-especially his sons-were opposed to the marriage. Dinah's views are never reported in the story; unlike Rebekah, no one asks whether she wishes to marry Shechem.
Finally, a condition is set: The men of Shechem as a whole must become circumcised, and then the family of Jacob will be willing to marry daughters of the Shechemites, and the men of Shechem may seek wives from among Jacob's family. And Dinah and Shechem may marry, once all the males of Shechem are circumcised. While the men of Shechem are recovering from the operations, two of the sons of Jacob attack and kill them, getting revenge on them for what they did to Dinah. Jacob is furious with his vengeful sons, but they only reply, "Should our sister be treated like a whore?"
That is the background to the story of Jacob's return to Bethel. It seems likely that Genesis 34 is inserted as a separate piece of tradition, very old, explaining how the Israelites and the people of the land of Canaan got together by intermarriage, but occasionally had their violent flare-ups. The story that told of Jacob's vow at Bethel (Genesis 28) is now continued with our story of Jacob's leaving Shechem, moving to Bethel, settling there for a time, and there worshiping God at the site of his previous dream of a ladder connecting earth and heaven.
And it is an eerie story at the start -- the account of Jacob's moving from Shechem to Bethel. Perhaps we should understand that God is rebuking Jacob for not having gone directly to Bethel when he returned from Mesopotamia; remember that he had pledged to give God a tenth of everything that he would acquire there, provided that God protected him and made his affairs prosper. Jacob has been back in Canaan for some time, and he still has not returned to Bethel to pay his vow!
This move from Shechem to Bethel is no ordinary journey. The people are required to remove all their household gods (probably small clay statues that are apart of the worship of their ancestors), they are to change their clothing, and prepare themselves for something special, clearly. We are reminded of the preparations that Moses and the Israelites will make before they complete the covenant between them and God. (See chapters 19-24 of the book of Exodus.) Jacob then hides these objects under the oak that is nearby (perhaps burying them, as Joshua does, according to chapter 24 of the book of Joshua).
We can see that this is a careful and complex ritual act that Jacob and the people are engaged in as they leave Shechem and settle in Bethel. The family of Jacob has struck out violently against some of the inhabitants of the area. This would explain the sense of danger and terror that the people have as they make their march from Shechem to Bethel. However, God protects them as they move south and settle, for a time, near Bethel.
Once again Jacob builds an altar at Bethel and makes both a drink offering and an offering of oil. The traditions here are very complex. The site is named El-bethel, which may mean "the God whose name is Bethel" or "the God who is known at Bethel." But later the site is simply named Bethel, the name given in Genesis 28. (Compare Genesis 35:7 and 35:15). And the change of Jacob's name to Israel that originally took place at the crossing of the Jabbok River is once more emphasized. (See Genesis 32:28.)
But the chief weight of this story falls on the renewal of God's promise to Jacob. God reassures Jacob that the blessing promised to Abraham and to Isaac applies to him as well. Jacob once again erects a stone pillar to commemorate this encounter with God at Bethel.
When Jeroboam I becomes the first king of North Israel, after Solomon's death and the division of the kingdom into two parts, Bethel becomes his chief center for worship, a rival to Jerusalem itself. By the time of Amos, Bethel is well established; it has a chief priest who is a strong defender of the king and the monarchy. The prophet Amos speaks sharp words of judgment against Bethel because, in Amos' day, the people love to worship at the temple in Bethel, but they refuse to do the will of God in daily life (Amos 7:10-17).
But that day is far ahead. For now, Jacob has returned to the land of the promise, blessed greatly by God. He has a large family, much property, and God's promise that there is more to come. How will this promise of God's fare as Jacob now moves south to the traditional homeland in the country around the city of Hebron? We shall soon learn.
1 God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
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 clothes; then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."
So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem. As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them. Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.
God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So he was called Israel.
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 spring from you. 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."
Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.
Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.
So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.
He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.
And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!"
And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you."