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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 35:9-15
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 35 where Jacob and his family are back in the promised land. God has a purpose for every word in the Bible, and this helps us to appreciate the repetition that God gives in today's passage. In Genesis 32, Jacob was renamed by God. Jacob would no longer be called Jacob but he would be called Israel from this point onward. But, as we re-enter our study of Genesis 35, Jacob is still being called Jacob. This was why the reiteration was needed.
In v.9-10 of today's passage we read, "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."
The parallels between the life of Jacob and the life of Abraham are hard to miss. Many of them are actually highlighted in these verses in an interesting way. Jacob had returned from being out of the land of Canaan for twenty years and he now returned to Bethel where he had his vision of God before he left. In that vision the Lord promised him that, "the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants." Likewise, Abraham entered Canaan and was given a promise in the same area, just east of Bethel. It was then that God said to Abraham, "To your descendants I will give this land." After receiving the promise, Abraham left Canaan for Egypt and Jacob left Canaan for Haran. After returning from Egypt Abraham eventually journeyed to the same spot between Bethel and Ai. Jacob returned from Haran and journeyed back to Bethel, as well.
The promise of His presence and His protection in the life of Jacob had been fulfilled. Interestingly, the name "God" is used ten times in this chapter, but the term "Lord" is not, even though it was used four times in Jacob's vision of God some 30 years earlier. The Lord, or YHWH, who stood above the ladder had proved Himself faithful to Jacob. As a result, Jacob refers to the Lord as his God as he said he would.
Yet again, God spoke with Jacob even though Jacob had failed Him miserably. The true God always speaks to His people and our faith is bolstered by the trials that we endure. It is when our faith is stretched and we are forced closer to the Lord that our hearts get to see Him most vividly. The Lord who was above the ladder twenty years ago was the same Lord who wrestled with Jacob that night just ten years ago. Interestingly, when Abraham’s name was changed it was done by the Lord, YHWH. Again and again, God was making the connection between His relational name YHWH and His all powerful name of God or Elohim. When God changed both Abram and Jacob's names, He indicated His ownership over each of them. In Revelation 2:17, the Lord Jesus promises us a new name, implying He is our Master and our God.
In v.11-13 of today's passage we read, "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."
These are the exact same words that the Lord spoke to Abraham when his name was changed and the promise of the covenant was repeated. This passage is of singular importance in understanding the role of Israel in the history of redemption. In the New Testament, when Paul speaks of Israel, he speaks of the people who physically descended from Israel. He never calls Israel the church and he never calls the church Israel. There are those in Israel who are in the church and there are those of the church who are the Israel of God, but Israel and the church are distinct entities. The promise of land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not for the church, it is only for the nation of Israel. And, the duration of the gift of the land has always been forever.
In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "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. "
With the exception of adding a drink offering, this repeats what he did after his vision in the past. In fact, this stone was probably the same stone he set up some 30 years earlier. When he built his first altar, Jacob poured oil on it while this time he poured water and oil on it. The water consistently speaks of the Word of God throughout the Bible while the oil represents the Holy Spirit. Both the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit have authenticated the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God who came to take away our sin. For the first time in the Bible, a drink offering was made. A drink offering always accompanies a sacrifice in the Bible. The drink offering pictures the pouring out of the life of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The oil poured on the altar was a picture of the Spirit resting upon the Lord Jesus in preparation for His work.
In Jacob's first dream, the Lord was above the ladder and Jacob was on the earth. Jacob called the name of the place Bethel in anticipation of God fulfilling His promises to Jacob. Here, Jacob once again was in the same place, but God wasn’t above the ladder, He was right there with Jacob. God's posture changed because now Jacob had come to own God as his Lord thus God spoke with him instead of down to him. For Jacob, Bethel had become an actual spot where Jacob abided with God and God abided with Jacob. As always, the Lord Jesus Christ is the point and purpose of everything God has and is doing in history. The Bible has a unified message, and the unifying center of that message is Jesus Christ. This principle of interpretation comes to us from Jesus Himself, for He taught His disciples to read the Hebrew Bible in this way: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me for he wrote about me."
