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Jacob Comes Home
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promises of mercy, but of the vow he had made there that the Lord
would be his God. Determined that his household should be freed
from the defilement of idolatry before going to this sacred spot, he
gave direction to all, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you,
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purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and
go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered
me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which
I have gone.”
Jacob Relates His Earlier Bethel Experience
With deep emotion, Jacob repeated the story of his first visit to
Bethel and how the Lord had appeared to him in the night vision.
His own heart was softened; his children also were touched by a
subduing power. He had taken the most effective way to prepare
them to join in the worship of God when they would arrive at Bethel.
“So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands,
and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under
the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.”
God caused a fear to come over the inhabitants of the land, so
that they made no attempt to avenge the slaughter of Shechem, and
the travelers reached Bethel safely. Here the Lord appeared to Jacob
again and renewed to him the covenant promise.
From Bethel it was only two days’ journey to Hebron, but it
brought a heavy grief to Jacob in the death of Rachel. Twice he had
worked seven years for her sake, and his love had made the toil light.
That love had been deep and abiding.
Before her death, Rachel gave birth to a second son. With her
parting breath she named the child Benoni, “son of my sorrow.”
But his father called him Benjamin, “son of my right hand,” or “my
strength.”
At last Jacob came to his journey’s end, “to his father Isaac at
Mamre, ... (that is, Hebron).” Here he remained during the closing
years of his father’s life. To Isaac, weak and blind, the kind attentions
of this long-absent son were a comfort during years of loneliness
and bereavement.
Jacob and Esau met at the deathbed of their father. The elder
brother’s feelings had greatly changed. Jacob, well content with the