LIFE SCRIPTS

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. 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.
Genesis 35:1‭-‬15 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.35.1-15.NIV

This passage begins with God calling out Jacob by asking him to build an altar for Him in Bethel. By this time Jacob must have stayed in Shechem for a while. Even though God had called him and christened him Israel, He still once again reached out to him reminding him about the covenant He had swore to his grandfather Abraham. Our God reminds us of the promises He has made to us and from where He has taken us. Life has a way of swaying our commitment to Him. However God is merciful and calls us back to Him reminding us of His commitment to us. In this passage we see Jacob’s household ridding themselves of foreign gods (vs 4). Possibly some of them had been influenced by the local Canaanites. But God still reached out to them. He not only reached out to them but His favour was with them. So much so that the surrounding nations were filled with terror because of them. As Jacob arrived in Bethel God appeared to him again and reminded him His promises. He reminded him that his name would no longer be Jacob but Israel. The change of name was important. God had changed his name. He had given him a new personality the same way we become a new creation when Christ saves us. When we embrace salvation from the Savior, our identity changes. Our habits may not change immediately but our identity before God is changed. Here, God was emphasizing that. Jacob might still have been struggling with issues such as idolatry in his household. However, before God he was a changed man. He wanted to pull him out of the happenings in his life for him to build an altar to Him. He directed him back to the place he had encountered Him first. At times, God pulls us back from the things we’re used to in order to draw us closer to Him. But more importantly, He calls us to lead our families before Him. In all steps we take to follow God, He desires that we involve our families. This scripture also pays tribute to Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse who died. Her life though scripture was silent on seemed to have touched many. In verse 8, the place where she was buried is mentioned. Deborah’s life seemed a life of commitment and loyalty.