From Shechem to Hebron and Beyond
At the end of Genesis 34, Jacob finds himself in a dilemma. He cannot stay near Shechem, but where can he go? God, of course, has an answer to this as we learn in the next chapter. He directs Jacob to return to Bethel--where he had met God when running from Esau--and make an altar. It looks like Jacob's obedience was immediate. The group's obedience seems to have been immediate also.
And then God protected them as they traveled, sending a fear into the nations they passed by or through.
Finally, they reached Bethel. Jacob built the altar and called the place El-bethel, "because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother's presence" (35:7). Poignant mention is made of the death of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, and her burial. I call it poignant because Rebekah had probably predeceased this woman, yet the family had seen to it that Deborah was cared for.
Again God appears to Jacob and again blesses him and again renames him. He is no longer to be known as Jacob but as Israel. More than that, "God said to him, 'I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you'" (35:11-12); "Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken to him" (35:13)--a precursor to the Lord's ascent from the mount at the end of the gospel Matthew wrote.
Jacob's response was of course worship.
I'm not sure from the text why Jacob left Bethel to move to Bethlehem. It does note Rachel's death as she gave birth to Benjamin and mentions her burial.
Another baffling even is recounted in terse terms in verse 22: "While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it." This would have consequences later.
We also have a review of the sons of Jacob, each grouped by his mother.
Perhaps the most poignant statement comes at the end of the chapter. As we remember, Isaac had expected to die years before, which led to his premature decision to bless each son as appropriate to his birth order. This led to Esau's anger at being deprived of his blessing, Rebekah's having to send her son-of-choice into a form of exile, Jacob's years as a resident of Laban's household, and much else. Providentially, before Isaac's death, Jacob and Esau were reconciled.
"And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiraith-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him" (35:27-29).
I puzzled over the presence of chapter 36 with all the details of Esau's descendants. What place does this have? A whole, detailed chapter seems, well, excessive. After all, Esau wasn't the elect brother. Then I recalled that Ishmael's lineage was also included earlier in GENESIS. What was I to draw from these?
My tentative conclusion is that though these were not the chosen ones--those being Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--the fact that Ishmael was Abraham's son and that Esau was Isaac's meant that God had still included them and their descendants in His plans, and provided for their territories vis a vi their elect brothers. Sadly, their descendants would become enemies of their cousins.
Granted, at this point I looked at the notes in the MacArthur Study Bible to verify my suspicions.