Genesis 35 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Genesis 35:1-8

1 Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.’

2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.’ 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth.

A. Find Out:

1. Why did Jacob go to Bethel? v.1a
2. What did the Lord tell him to do there? v.1b
3. In what 3 things did Jacob instruct the family? v.2
4. What happened as they went? v.5
5. Why did he build an altar at Bethel? v.7
6. What also happened there? v.8

B. Think:

1. Why do you think the Lord wanted Jacob to go back to Bethel?
2. Why do you think He wanted him to build an altar there?
3. How did the Lord bless their going?

C. Comment:

Bethel was the place where Jacob had had his first encounter with God. In being sent back there it is as if the Lord wants to bring him back to the known place of encounter, (It is almost like the nation of Israel going to Sinai to encounter God after the exodus) where Jacob will know he is in God’s presence. There are times when we need to go back to the place where we last met the Lord so that faith may be released afresh.

In being called to build an altar there, it is almost as if the Lord has seen him build an altar at Succoth and says, “If you want to build an altar, build it where I say, in the place where I am”. The nation of Israel were later to have clear instructions on how to build altars. Theirs was not to be a religion of “doing what you think” but doing what God says. Jacob’s instructions to his family show that he realizes and has learnt that God is THE one and only holy God who will not have any false competitors. As they prepare and go, the Lord honors them with His protective presence, which brings fear to all who see them pass by.

D. Application?

1. Do we need to come back to places of past encounters with the Lord to renew our relationship with Him?
2. Are we Christians because of what the Lord has said in His word, or because of our own ideas & efforts?

Passage: Genesis 35:9-15

9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.’ So he named him Israel.

11 And God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.’ 13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.

A. Find Out:    

1. What, in general, did God do to Jacob? v.9
2. What did He do specifically? v.10
3. How did the Lord identify Himself? v.11
4. What 2 things did the Lord promise Jacob? v.11,12
5. What did the Lord then do? v.13
6. What did Jacob do? v.14

B. Think:

1. What form did God’s blessing take?
2. How does the way the Lord reveals Himself to us, match what He is saying He will DO for us?
3. What does this passage show about the Lord’s presence?

C. Comment:

At Bethel, the Lord appears again to Jacob and blesses him. Remember from what we learnt before, that when a person is blessed (especially by God), their lives are changed for the better. God’s blessing upon Jacob’s life here comes:

a)   in the restatement of Jacob’s name being changed i.e. the recognition that he is a new person in God’s eyes.

b)   in a double promise: that Jacob will become a nation and that this land will be theirs.

The Lord identifies Himself just as He had done to Abram (17:1) as “God Almighty”, i.e. all powerful, the One who can do all He promises. Whenever we genuinely encounter the Lord we always learn something new about who He is. We normally teach that the Lord is always with us (e.g. Matthew 28:20 / Hebrews 13:5) but this passage reminds us that there are times when the Lord seems to draw especially near (in our awareness) to share His heart with us. Having done that He may then draw back to a more usual “distance” where we are not so aware of Him there with us.

D. Application?

1. Are we aware of the promises that God gives us in His word?
2. Are we aware that He is God , who can fulfil what He promises.

Passage: Genesis 35:16-29

16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, ‘Don’t despair, for you have another son.’ 18 As she breathed her last – for she was dying – she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.

21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

23 The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

26 The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah: Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. 29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

A. Find Out:

1. What happened while they were on the move? v.16
2. What did Jacob name his twelfth son? v.18
3. What happened to Rachel? v.19
4. How did Reuben disgrace his father? v.22
5. To where did Jacob travel? v.27
6. How old was Isaac when he died? v.29

B. Think:

1. Looking at the footnotes, what sort of memory did Rachel want to leave with the name she wanted for the son she was bearing?
2. Looking at the footnotes, how does Benjamin’s name indicate what Jacob feels about him?
3. What impression is given about Isaac’s death?

C. Comment:

Soon after their successful return to the land and God’s blessing on Jacob’s life, tragedy strikes and Rachel, Jacob’s first love, dies giving birth to Jacob’s twelfth son. We may, in our immaturity, question God over Rachel’s death so soon after promise of blessing, but her protection was not promised as part of that blessing and did not affect the end result of that blessing. May we learn from Jacob, not to be put off when things don’t go as we think they should.

Often a bad attitude towards God comes from misunderstanding what He had said and expecting too much. We are still prone to the mishaps that affect all people living on earth. The difference is that we have One with us who can help us through them. Jacob’s renaming the child indicates his refusal to be put down by the circumstances. Instead of being constantly reminded of his sorrow (by the name), he will put the child in a place of honour instead. This is followed by Reuben’s dishonouring his father and then Isaac’s death in good old age. God’s blessing certainly doesn’t insulate us from heart aches.

D. Application?

1. Do we read more into God’s promises to us than He meant?
2. Will we let tragedy be turned into triumph when it hits our lives?