In our study of Genesis chapter thirty five, we see that it is God's desire for Isra'el to bring life to all of the people of the world.
Now, if God speaks to you in this study, you can save your own personal notes on this page. Then, every time that you look at this study, your notes will automatically be added to the page. To add a note or to display your previous notes, click on the YOUR NOTES button.
God said to Ya'akov, "Get up, go up to Beit-El and live there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled 'Esav your brother."
God told Ya'akov to go to Beit-El and we remember, from chapter 28, that this is where he had had the vision of the staircase to heaven and he had built an altar there. In the original Hebrew, the word "to" is not included in the verse and that is an emphasis on the spiritual nature of this journey.
Then Ya'akov said to his household and all the others with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods that you have with you, purify yourselves, and put on fresh clothes. We're going to move on and go up to Beit-El. There I will build an altar to God, who answered me when I was in such distress and stayed with me wherever I went." They gave Ya'akov all the foreign gods in their possession and the earrings they were wearing, and Ya'akov buried them under the pistachio tree near Sh'khem.
We see that there were others with Ya'akov and not just his family and we remember that, in the last chapter, the surviving people of the Hivite town had joined with Ya'akov. He instructed them to sanctify themselves by getting rid of their idols and changing clothes which speaks of a change in behavior. Although the word "answered" appears here, in the original Hebrew, the word is in the present tense speaking of the fact that God is continuing to speak to Ya'akov. So, those with Ya'akov gave him their idols and their earrings and he concealed them in the ground where they would not be discovered. Why the earrings? The earrings were a sign of obedience to the foreign gods that they had with them and this represented a clear change in attitude as well as behavior.
While they were traveling, a terror from God fell upon the cities around them, so that none of them pursued the sons of Ya'akov. Ya'akov and all the people with him arrived at Luz (that is, Beit-El) in the land of Kena'an. He built there an altar and called the place El-Beit-El, because it was there that God was revealed to him, at the time when he was fleeing from his brother.
We see that on the way they were not hassled because of a supernatural dread that fell upon the people of the land and they arrived at Luz. He built an altar as instructed and called the place "God house of God" and, when there is a name change in the Torah, it signifies a transformation. Using the name God twice refers to a double portion with one portion for this age and another portion for an age to come which shows us that this is prophetic. We are reminded again that it was this place that God had appeared to Ya'akov as he was fleeing his brother and a change as, in verse one, the name of 'Esav is give but here it is not. Throughout the Bible, the concept of a name being removed is a sign of God's displeasure with that person.
Then D'vorah, Rivkah's nurse, died. She was buried below Beit-El under the oak, which was given the name Alon-Bakhut.
The nanny of Rivkah who had been with her for many years made it to Beit-El but then she died and was buried there under an oak tree that was named "oak of weeping". Being buried at Beit-El shows a blessing or reward for her service.
After Ya'akov arrived from Paddan-Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Ya'akov, but you will be called Ya'akov no longer; your name will be Isra'el." Thus he named him Isra'el. God further said to him, "I am El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed a group of nations, will come from you; kings will be descended from you. Moreover, the land which I gave to Avraham and Yitz'chak I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you." Then God went up from him there where he had spoken with him.
We see that God appeared to Ya'akov again and he was given the blessing of revelation and his name was officially change to Isra'el. We also see that he was given the same instruction that Adam and Hava had received in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 1). We also see that three times the word "give" or "given" is used in this passage and this shows that it is the will of God for Israel to possession the land of Canaan.
Ya'akov set up a standing-stone in the place where he had spoken with him, a stone pillar. Then he poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. Ya'akov called the place where God spoke with him Beit-El.
So, Isra'el set up a memorial stone and poured a drink offering on it which speaks of worship and then he anointed it with oil which speaks of the Messiah.
Then they traveled on from Beit-El, and while there was still some distance to go before arriving in Efrat, Rachel went into labor, and she had great difficulty with it. While she was undergoing this hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Don't worry, this is also a son for you." But she died in childbirth. As she was dying she named her son Ben-Oni, but his father called him Binyamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Efrat (that is, Beit-Lechem).
As Israel was travelling to Bethlehem, Rachel went into labor and was dying while having a son. We see that she gave him a name and his father gave him a different name. Ben-Oni speaks of grief and sorrow as well as power and strength while Binyamin speaks of integrity which brings about power but also persecution. Integrity is related to a single-mindedness in pursuing the things of God or not being one way when in the church and another way when you leave. We are shown that having this integrity in our walk with the Lord will result in persecution from those that are in the world.
Ya'akov set up a standing-stone on her grave; it is the stand-ing-stone of Rachel's grave to this day.
Isra'el set up a monument (matzevah) over Rachels' tomb that is still there today.
Isra'el continued his travels and pitched his tent on the other side of Migdal-'Eder.
We see that Isra'el went further twoards Migdal-'Eder which means "tower heard".
It was while Isra'el was living in that land that Re'uven went and slept with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Isra'el heard about it. Ya'akov had twelve sons. The sons of Le'ah were Re'uven Ya'akov's firstborn, Shim'on, Levi, Y'hudah, Yissakhar and Z'vulun. The sons of Rachel were Yosef and Binyamin. The sons of Bilhah Rachel's slave-girl were Dan and Naftali. And the sons of Zilpah Le'ah's slave-girl were Gad and Asher. These were Ya'akov's sons, born to him in Paddan-Aram.
Now we see that, while living near the hearing tower, Re'uven the son of Le'ah slept with Bilhah who was another wife of Isra'el. This was a sinful act and Re-uven represents sin among the children of Isra'el. Because of his sins, he lost the birthright and it was given to the sons of Yosef who was the son of Rachel. We remember that Isra'el had married Le'ah through the sinful deception of her father and that Rachel was the one that had been selected by God as the wife for Isra'el. We note that all of the sons of Isra'el except for Binyamin were born while Isra'el was in exile in Paddan-Aram.
Ya'akov came home to his father Yitz'chak at Mamre, near Kiryat-Arba (also known as Hevron), where Avraham and Yitz'chak had lived as foreigners. Yitz'chak lived to be 180 years old. Then he breathed his last, died and was gathered to his people, an old man full of years; and his sons 'Esav and Ya'akov buried him.
Isra'el went back to Hevron which speaks of unity and we remember that, when the patriarchs are mentioned, it speaks of the promise. We see that Yitz'chak lived to an age of 180 and the number 18 in Hebrew spells "life". We see that the sons of Yitz'chak worked together to bury him and it speaks of the fact that it is God's desire for the people to work together to bring unity and life to the people of the world.