Can You Hear Me Now?--Part 2

Genesis 35:1-15

Once Jacob got alone with God and listened, got rid of all the foreign gods in his household, returned to Bethel, and experienced God again, he was able to hear God’s voice.  Jacob listened to God.

After Jacob and his family left Haran and Uncle Laban’s house, they had traveled to Canaan. The departure was triggered by God’s call to Jacob.

“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.” (Genesis 31:13).

God’s call to leave Laban’s house was a call to return to the land of promise. It seems that God was calling Jacob to return to the place where Jacob had last encountered God, Bethel. On the journey south, Jacob met up with his brother, Esau, and experienced a reconciliation. But Jacob’s clan settled far north of Bethel. For the next 8 or 10 years, Jacob’s nomadic clan made Shechem their home.

Shechem was a blot on Jacob’s family name.

The town of Shechem featured a prominent young Canaanite prince conveniently named Shechem. Shechem was attracted to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and he seduced her. Jacob’s sons were enraged that an uncircumcised and idolatrous Canaanite had seduced their sister. When he was confronted, Shechem professed his love for Dinah and requested her hand in marriage. Jacob’s sons contrived a plot. They demanded that Shechem and all the men of his tribe undergo male circumcision. They complied. While all of the Shechemite men were sore and recovering from circumcision, the sons of Jacob slaughtered them in revenge for Shechem’s seduction of Dinah.

Jacob was shattered. Shechem had become a comfortable place to live. He told his boys that their action had made their entire family a stench in the nostrils of their neighbors, and would force them to move. In his distress, Jacob again got alone with God and listened. God called him back to Bethel.  Jacob had been there before.

Bethel meant house of God. God called him back to the place where he had heard God’s voice. Jacob led his family back to Bethel where he had first heard God’s voice. Once there, God called Jacob to several acts of obedience. God commanded Jacob to:

• Get rid of all the foreign gods in his household.
• Remove all their earrings.
• Change their clothing. 
• Build an altar to God. 
• Offer sacrifice. 
• Experience God anew.

Jacob got alone with God and listened.