Genesis 35:1 NKJV
“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.'”
Jacob’s encounters with God were mostly at decisive moments when the need for His divine intervention was dire. For instance, at that moment when Jacob fled from his brother’s wrath and was alone in the open, the LORD appeared to him in a dream at night. Though it was a lone moment, Jacob would exclaim in excitement and say, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Gen 28:16-17 NKJV). Hallelujah! Under that divine influence, Jacob called the name of that place Bethel, translated as, the House of God. Oh, God’s spiritual presence must have been heavy in that place!
About 14 years later, when Jacob would, again, be forced to flee from Laban, the LORD graciously appeared to him the second time and said, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be WITH YOU” (Gen 31:3 NKJV). Hallelujah! At the next decisive moment, when Jacob was afraid and about to meet Esau, his formerly enraged brother, “…the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is God’s camp.'” (Gen 32:1-2 NKJV). Hallelujah! Only God knows where the angels were from and why they met Jacob at that critical moment! But one thing is true: the LORD kept being with Jacob to strengthen him all along the way.
When all was fairly calm, the LORD appeared again to Jacob and said, “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”, as in our reference text. Hallelujah! Notice, Jacob was on transit and in a difficult moment during his first encounter with God at Bethel. However, at a time when all was peaceful and Jacob was now very blessed, the LORD still directed him to go back to “Bethel” (synonymous with God’s spiritual presence) and “dwell [permanently] there”! Oh, how important it is to value God’s spiritual presence—not only during distressful times, but also when we are at peace and blessed!
Pst. Emmanuel