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Jacob Comes Home
This chapter is based on Genesis 34; 35; 37.
Crossing the Jordan, “Jacob came in safety to the city of
Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan.” Here he “bought the
parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of
Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. Then he
erected an altar there.” It was here also that he dug the well to which
Jesus came seventeen centuries later. Beside this well Jacob’s Son
and Savior rested during the noontime heat and told His amazed
hearers of that “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”
(
John 4:14
).
The time that Jacob and his sons spent at Shechem ended in
bloodshed. One daughter of the family had been brought to shame
and sorrow; two brothers were involved in the guilt of murder; a
whole city had experienced ruin and slaughter in retaliation for the
lawless deed of one rash youth. The beginning that led to results
so terrible was the act of Jacob’s daughter in going out to associate
with the ungodly. Anyone who seeks pleasure among those who do
not fear God is inviting temptations.
The treacherous cruelty of Simeon and Levi toward the She-
chemites was a terrible sin. The news of their revenge filled Jacob
with horror. Heartsick at the deceit and violence of his sons, he said,
“You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabi-
tants of the land ... and since I am few in number, they will gather
themselves together against me and kill me, I shall be destroyed, my
household and I.”
Jacob felt that there was cause for deep humiliation. Cruelty and
falsehood were in the character of his sons. False gods and idolatry
had gained a foothold to some extent even in his household.
While Jacob was so bowed down with trouble, the Lord directed
him to journey south toward Bethel. The thought of this place
reminded him not only of his vision of the angels and of God’s
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