Genesis 34:30-35:8 (ESV)

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.

What foreign gods? Is it possible that Jacob’s household has lots of foreign gods? Including the ones Rachel stole? And he has known about them all along? And tolerated it until now? That all seems inescapable. But then what precipitated this sudden change in attitude?

Let’s review the sequence of events. In the preceding passage Dinah’s brothers wipe out the entire town of Succoth. Jacob announces that this massacre makes them persona non-grata and they may be attacked. God then tells Jacob to go to Bethel and to build an altar there. Then Jacob tells his family to clean house, removing all foreign gods. He also tells them to purify themselves and to change their clothes.

His next sentence ties this all together. “Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress.” Finally Jacob gets it. His distress is so great that when God responds, he’s genuinely converted. He has seen the light. The LORD isn’t one deity among many; He’s the only one. The other gods are trash to be tossed out.

And this works. Instead of being attacked, Jacob and his family are feared and left alone.

Faith often has a curious dynamic. You think you believe only to discover later that you have grown and your former faith looks insignificant in retrospect. Great trials do this to you.

Of course, the growth validates the faith. Christians never stop growing and God never stops pushing us to the next level. Trials are often how He does this. Trials give context to God’s actions and make Him harder to deny. Weak faith is really partial denial. When denial becomes impossible, faith crystallizes.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies