JACOB DEPARTS TO BETHEL Jacob, no doubt, lived all his years in Padan Aram, dreaming of the day when he would return to Bethel, where he saw the heavenly ladder, felt the awe of God’s house, and made a vow to God. Now, God realizes the wish of his heart, inviting to go up to Bethel. 1- Jacob departs to Bethel 1-15. 2- Birth of Benjamin and death of Rachel 16-20. 3- The sin of Reuben 21-26. 4- Death of Isaac 27-29. 1- JACOB DEPARTS TO BETHEL “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother” (Gen. 35:1). While Jacob was troubled in Shechem because of what his sons did, and of his fear of the neighboring nations and people, God, Himself, calls on him to go up to Bethel, to dwell and to make an altar there to God. Jacob came to ‘Luz,’ which is in the land of Canaan that became called Bethel; of which we previously dealt (Gen. 28:16-22). It is to be noticed: (1) Jacob commanded his household and all who were with him, to put away the foreign gods, like the household idols which Rachel stole that were her father’s, the idols that were in the servants’ possession before they entered into the divine covenant, and those that Jacob’s sons might have taken from Shechem. It is impossible to proclaim the sanctity of the house of God (Bethel), as long as the congregation is not sanctified! The sanctity of God’s house harmonizes with that of the congregation. The two, building and congregation become a living icon of the unblemished heaven. (2) Jacob commanded his household to change their garments. If putting the foreign gods away refers to sanctifying the soul, purifying the garments refers to the purity of the body. (3) They gave to Jacob, all the earrings which were in their ears, together with the foreign idols, to bury them under the terebinth tree that was by Shechem. Those earrings were most probably used, beside being ornaments, for certain fictitious religious practices, as seeking goodness and putting away envy, etc.1 Burying the earrings and the idols under the terebinth tree refers to burying all the works and thoughts of the devil under the cross. If the house of God, in its essence, is the dwelling of God amid His people, to encounter with Him, we have to bury all what are the devil’s, by the power of the cross. (4) We saw that ‘Bethel,’ or the ‘House of God,’ had been called before, the city of ‘Luz,’ The Luz or almond, referring to the word of God2; there being a close relationship between the Church, as God’s house, and the word of God. If the house of God refers to our entrance into the bosom of God, to be in Him and to enjoy His life, the goal of the word of God is our abidance in God, and our enjoyment of the union with him, in His Only-Begotten Son. . 1 نجيب جرجس: سفر التكوين، ص ٣٣٤ 2 Cf. our commentary on Gen 28:16-22. 4 (5) As Jacob journeyed to Bethel, the neighboring peoples did not dare to pursue him, as “The terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them” (Gen. 35:5). The nations feeling the awe of God in the life of Jacob, dwelling in God’s house, could not pursue him. (6) As the procession of Jacob set forth toward Bethel, “Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse, died, and was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called ‘Allon Bachuth’” (Gen. 35: 8). That, did not happen by coincidence, and the Bible did not mention it without significance; God intended for Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse to be buried in Bethel under the terebinth, called later ‘Allon Bachuth,’ meaning ‘the terebinth of weeping.’ If Bethel embraced the congregation of believers in the Lord, who dwells in their midst, among those believers who fell asleep, who have previously strived like a bee (Deborah), suckled many, and raised in the Lord, as what Deborah did with Rebecca. In other words, in God’s house, all those who strive, who are still on earth completing the days of their life, together with their brothers who preceded them, are all one Church, one house of the Lord. Jacob buried his mother Rebecca’s nurse, whom she receives as a present from her family. The day she was engaged (Gen. 24:59). Nurses had a great status and respect that was close to the mother’s. Some believe that Deborah died at the age of one hundred and eighty years, brought by Jacob from his father Isaac’s household in Hebron. It seems that Jacob visited his father there more than once, and obtained his permission to take Deborah, to have her blessings as the nurse of his mother, who, probably died before returning from his sojourn with his uncle Laban. It seems that everyone mourned her death, that the place of her burial was called “Allon Bachuth,” below Bethel, namely at a low land in or close to Bethel. (7) Having put away the foreign gods, buried them together with the earrings, under the terebinth tree, as though under the cross, and set forth to Bethel, in pure garments, namely pure body; the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and did not pursue the sons of Jacob. The death and burial of Deborah, there, became a reference to a union of the holy congregation, on the level of both the living and the dead. And now, Jacob enjoys a divine appearance, and a confirmation of the renewal of his name, and the divine promises; the Holy Bible says: “And God appeared to Jacob again... and said to him, ‘Your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name’ So he called his name Israel. Also God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land’”(Gen. 35:9-12). In Bethel, namely, the holy Church, we encounter with God the Almighty “Elshdai,’ not only as the Almighty One, but also who grants us in Him the capability, to live strong and capable, singing together with the apostle Paul, saying: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). We encounter with God the Almighty, the Grantor of spiritual strength, to make everything in us new, and to carry a new name, not to be called Jacob anymore, but Israel, to be fruitful and multiply, according to his promise, so that our capabilities, energies, and all our feelings, would set forth by the Holy Spirit to carry the multiplying fruits of the Spirit and become, in God’s eyes, a nation, even a company of nations, as our life becomes transformed into spiritual energies without limit. And from our bodies, kings would proceed; to possess the mind, as a king of authority over every thought, and the soul, as a queen who controls with authority, all things pertaining to the body, with no 5 exception... Finally, God grants to us and to our descendants the land He gave to our father Abraham and our father Isaac, namely, grants us the holy body (the land), as an inheritance that pleases our heart, and not as opponent to the work of the Spirit of God. (8) Finally, Jacob dedicated the first house of God after the fall, as is said: “Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He (God) talked with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it” (Gen. 35:14) Jacob presented a pillar of stone, a drink offering, and oil, that were received by God from the hands of Jacob, to make of that place a dwelling for him and His angels, He Who, heaven and earth are not wide enough for him. He lovingly accepts that place, as a sign of His dwelling in the midst of His people, attached to His children, and entering with His love into their lives. That pillar also refers to the Lord Christ, the Cornerstone, who, amid His redeeming passion, proclaimed the drink offering, namely, that of joy for His resurrection; and received the oil of anointment, being the Messiah, Savior of the world; in whom alone, we enter to dwell in His Father’s bosom, as an eternal house that embraces the whole Church in divine love. 2- BIRTH OF BENJAMIN AND DEATH OF RACHEL Jacob and all his procession departed from Bethel toward Ephrath; and about one mile north of Ephrath, Rachel travailed in childbirth, and she had such hard labor. And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name ‘Ben- Oni,’ meaning ‘son of my grief,’ because of the severe pain and grief she was suffering; but his father called him Benjamin, meaning ‘son of the right hand.’ Rachel was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is Bethlehem); and Jacob set a pillar on her grave, that is there to this day. Rachel’s heart was, without doubt, aflame with hope, to have a brother to Joseph from his father and mother, and lived all the days of her pregnancy rejoicing for that gift. Why did God allow for her death as she delivered him? (1) God wished to confirm to man, that birth and death, in human life, go hand in hand; and that our joys intermingle with grieves, as long as we are still in our bodies. (2) Rachel came to represent the Church of the Gentiles, and Jacob was a type of Christ the Lord. The Church kept on laboring hard with her children, that once the elects are consummated, the whole church would depart, to have eternal rest. What gives grief to the Church, to call him ‘Ben-Oni,’ gives joy to God, to call him Benjamin. She labors and grieves for some time, to have our grief turn to joy, when we all set forth together with God, on the clouds, and be on his right hand. 3- THE SIN OF REUBEN After the death of Rachel, Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder, meaning ‘the tower of herds,’ located in the valley of shepherds, about one mile east of Bethlehem. And it happened that Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, dared to lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, who was given to him by Rachel to give her children; Because of that defilement, Reuben lost the blessing of birthright, something that was mentioned bitterly by Jacob on his deathbed (Gen. 49:14). What Reuben, the firstborn, dared to do, refers to what Satan did, he who was previously the ‘morning star,’ to whom God gave exalted possibilities and gifts, but, in the pride of his heart, deceived man to draw his heart away, the dwelling of God, for the devil to occupy, as a ‘bed defiler’! 6 After mentioning the sin of Reuben, the Holy Bible presented us with a list of Jacob’s twelve sons, of whom we have dealt before (Gen. 30). 4- DEATH OF ISAAC Isaac breathed his last and died at the age of 180 years, and he joined his people, old and fulfilled with days (Gen. 35:29). Isaac presented numerous fruits during his time. Age is not to be counted in years, but in how far pious life has been.
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