35:1
Jacob had the mistaken settling at Shechem, and all that followed on from that. Now God gets him back on the right track, going to Bethel and to dwell there. Earlier Jacob had built a pillar there (Gen 28:18), now he is told to build an altar. This altar is in remembrance of the time God appeared to him when he fled from Esau. God had been with him, and had protected him. It is so crucial to understanding the story, and the Bible as a whole, not to mention life as a whole, that God’s blessing is based on God’s grace. None of the “heroes” in the Bible deserved it, and the accounts we find in the Bible make that abundantly clear. And none of us deserve it. Yet God still blesses.
35:2-4
God’s blessing does not come without consequences or implications, and Jacob is aware of that, even though the Law has not been given at this point. So Jacob sets about purifying his own household. All foreign gods were to be done away with. It seems that there had been mixture in the camp. The changing of garments may have had some connection with idol worship. Likewise, ear rings were associated with idol worship, it is nor clear whether the people or the idols wore them. “To the God who answers me in the day of my distress”. Jacob had experienced this on several occasions, and it is a fundamental point of a right relationship with God that He does answer us when we are in distress.
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