Prevailing Idolatry
Read Genesis 34:30–35:15. What lessons can we take about true wor-
ship from what happened here?
Immediately after Jacob’s complaint that his peace with the
Canaanites had been compromised (Gen. 34:30), and after his two
sons were rebuked (Gen. 34:30), God urges Jacob to leave Shechem
and return to Bethel in order to renew his covenant. Indeed, the Lord
tells him that, once he gets there, he needs to build an altar.
Meanwhile, the first thing recorded after God’s command is Jacob’s
telling his people to put away the Canaanite idols, which had been taken
in the plunder of the city of Shechem, and the household gods that had
been stolen by Rachel (Gen. 31:19, 32). All this, too, is crucial to the
idea of the covenant with God.
These idols had been kept and, probably, worshiped in spite of Jacob’s
commitment to God. It was not enough for Jacob to leave Shechem in
order to escape Canaanite influence. Jacob had to get rid of the idols
within the camp and in the hearts of his people.
The process of repentance consists in more than a physical move from one
place to another, or a move from one church to another. Most important, it is
that we seek by God’s grace to purge the idolatry in our hearts, regardless of
where we live, because we can make idols out of just about anything.
When Jacob obeys God and proceeds according to God’s com-
mandment, God finally intervenes and “the terror of God” (Gen. 35:5,
NKJV) affects all the people around them, and they do not dare attack
Jacob. Jacob is, then, ready to worship with “all the people who were
with him” (Gen. 35:6, NKJV), suggesting that the family unity has
been restored. Jacob gives this place the name El Bethel, a reminder of
his dream of the ladder, a sign that the connection between heaven and
earth, which had been broken for some time, has now been restored.
The emphasis is, this time, on the God of Bethel rather than on the
place itself. This personal note resonates again when God reminds
Jacob of his name “Israel” (Gen. 35:10), with the double promise that
this blessing implies. Jacob’s blessing, first, means fruitfulness, the
transmission of the Messianic seed and the generation of many nations
(Gen. 35:11); and second, it points to the Promised Land (Gen. 35:12).
What are subtle ways that idolatry can find its way into our
hearts, and what can we do about it?
